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The art of oratorical cornposijion
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a. /IB. 3D. <&.
THE ART
ORATORICAL COMPOSITION,
BASED UPON THE
PRECEPTS AND MODELS OF THE OLD
MASTERS.
REV. CHARLES COPPENS, S.J.,
Author of "A Practical Introduction to English Rhetoric.''
CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOOK CO.
28 Barclay Street, New York.
A-l \<o^Z<£
Copyright, 1885,
by
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY CO.
Transferred to catholic school hook co.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introductory, n
BOOK I.— SOURCES OF SUCCESS IN ORATORY.
Chapter I. Special Talents, 21
Chapter II. Moral Virtues 26
Chapter III. Knowledge 32
BOOK II.— ON THE INVENTION OF THOUGHT.
Chapter I. A General View of the Intended Speech, . . 38
Chapter II. Sources of Thoughts 49
Chapter III. Intrinsic Topics, 52
Article I. Definition, ....... 52
" II. Enumeration, 56
" III. Genus and Species, 58
" IV. Notation and Conjugates 62
" V. Causes and Effects, 63
' VI. Circumstances, 66
" VII. Antecedents and Consequents, .... 68
" VIII. Contraries, . . • 69
" IX. Likeness or Similitude 71
X. Likelihood or Probability 73
Chapter IV. Extrinsic Topics 76
Article I. Authorities, 7°
II. Examples 77
Chapter V. Moral Topics and Topics of Persons ... 80
Article I. Moral Topics, 80
" II. Topics of Persons, 81
Chapter VI. Use of the Topics, 84
Chapter VII. An Example for Practice, 9°
s
Contents.
BOOK III.— ORDER OR ARRANGEMENT OF THOUGHTS.
Chapter . I. The Natural Order,
Article I. The Historical Order,
II. The Distributive Order,
" III. Logical Order, .
Chapter II. The Oratorical Order, .
Chapter III. Plan of a Discourse,
Chapter IV. Analysis and Synopsis, .
94
94
96
98
100
104
108
BOOK IV.— DEVELOPMENT OF THOUGHT.
Chapter I. The Introduction,
Chapter II. Narration and Explanation, .
Chapter III. Proposition and Division,
CHAPTER IV. Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos
Article I. Ways to Produce Conviction,
§ 1. Exposition, .....
§ 2. Reasoning, .....
§ 3. Refutation
Article II. Ways to Please or Conciliate,
§ 1. Oratorical Ornaments,
§ 2. Politeness, .....
§ 3. Oratorical Precautions, .
Article III. Ways to Move or Persuade,
§ 1. On the Passions in Themselves,
§ 2. The Chief Ways of Arousing the Passions
§ 3. Of the Expression of Excited Passions
Chapter V. Conclusion or Peroration,
Chapter VI. On the Style of Speeches,
125
132
137
141
141
142
144
149
156
157
161
164
168
174
177
183
191
194
BOOK V.— MEMORY AND ELOCUTION.
Chapter I. On Memorizing the Oration, .... 202
Chapter II. Elocution or Delivery, . .... 208
Article I. Pronunciation, ....... 209
" II. Gesticulation, ....... 21^
Contents.
BOOK VI.— THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ORATORY.
PAGE
Chapter I. Deliberative Oratory, 22a
Article I. The Subjects of Deliberation 223
" II. The Characters of the Hearers, . . . . 226
III. The Orator Himself 229
IV. The Style 232
§ I. Speeches before Promiscuous Assemblies, . . 232
§ 2. Speeches before Select Audiences, .... 234
Chapter II. Forensic Oratory, 239
Article I. The Subjects of Controversy, .... 240
" II. Various Tribunals 243
III. The Orator Himself 248
Chapter III. Demonstrative Oratory, 254
Article I. An Historical Sketch of Demonstrative Oratory, 254
" II. Panegyrics, 257
" III. Academic Lectures, 263
*' IV. Minor Compositions, 266
Chapter IV. Sacred Oratory, 269
Article I. Sources of Success, . . .... 270
§ I. A Virtuous Life 271
§ 2. Abundant Knowledge 272
Article II. The Subjects of Sacred Oratory, . . .276
" III. The Special Topics of Sacred Oratory, . . 279
§ 1. The Holy Scriptures 279
§ 2. The Holy Fathers 282
§ 3. Theological Writings 284
§ 4. The History of the Church and Ascetic Writings, . 285
Article IV. Didactic Speeches 287
§ 1. Familiar Instructions 288
§ 2. Dogmatic Lectures 291
Article V. Exhortatory Discourses, 293
§ 1. The Set Moral Sermon 293
§ 2. The Homily 296
Article VI. Festive Orations, 299
§ 1. On the Mysteries of Religion 3°°
§ 2. Panegyrics 3°2
§ 3. On Special Occasions, 3°4
PREFACE.
In this treatise on oratorical composition it has been
the author's aim to present the student with the wisest
precepts of the most authoritative writers. Among the
ancients Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian are his princi-
pal guides ; among modern works he has freely consult-
ed the Ars Dicendi of Rev. Jos. Kleutgen, S.J.; the
Guide du Jeune Litterateur of Rev. Jos. Broeckaert,
S.J.; the Grammar of Eloquence of Rev. M. Barry,
and the Sacred Eloquence of Rev. Thomas J. Potter,
both of All-Hallows', Dublin ; the Lectures on Elo-
quence and Oratory delivered by our great American
statesman, John Quincy Adams, when Boylston professor
in Harvard University ; the Lectures on Rhetoric and
Belles-Lettres of Rev. Hugh Blair, D.D., of Edinburgh
University ; besides a multitude of treatises, reviews, etc.,
which have furnished abundant matter. In general the
author has preferred to let others speak in his stead
whenever it could well be done. He has endeavored to
illustrate the precepts by numerous extracts from the best
productions of ancient and modern orators. The entire
treatise is the growth of many years of teaching.
In preparing it for the press one of the principal diffi-
io Preface.
culties has been to combine thoroughness with brevity:
to strike a proper medium between the superficial treat-
ment so common in modern text-books and that multi-
plicity of terms and distinctions which made the satirist
exclaim :
" All a rhetorician's rules
Teach nothing but to name his tools."
The author does not expect to please every taste — this
is impossible ; but he hopes to have written a useful
work for the earnest student. If any be disposed to find
fault with him for having given so little that is profess-
edly his own, he would answer them in these words of
J. Q. Adams' Inaugural Oration at Harvard (vol. i. p. 28):
" In the theory of the art and the principles of exposi-
tion novelty will not be expected ; nor is it, perhaps, to
be desired. A subject which has exhausted the genius
of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian can neither require
nor admit much additional illustration. To select, com-
bine, and apply their precepts is the only duty left for
their followers of all succeeding times ; and to obtain a
perfect familiarity with their instructions is to arrive at
the mastery of the art."
THE AUTHOR.
St. Louis University,
St. Louis, Mo., March 1, 1885.
INTRODUCTORY.
i. In a didactic treatise like the present it is both useful
and conformable to general practice to begin with a clear
definition of the subject treated. Oratory is defined in;
Webster's Dictionary : The exercise of rhetorical skill in\
oral discourse. It is not, then, co-extensive with rhetoric,
but only a branch of it — that branch, namely, which treats
of oral as distinguished from written discourse. As ora-
torical compositions are thus a species of " rhetorical com-
positions,'' it is necessary next to explain the precise mean-
ing of the term rhetoric.
2. Rhetoric, from pew, to flow, originally designated the
power or art of using language fluently. Like most other
words, it has been employed with some variety of meaning.
Aristotle defines rhetoric : The art of inventing whatever^
is persuasive in discourse. Thus, as it regards persuasion,
it is distinguished from grammar, which deals with mere
correctness of language. Aristotle's definition appears
preferable to Webster's, which is, "the art of composi-
tion"; for this would include grammar as a branch.
Adopting, then, the definition of Aristotle, we may de-
velop it more fully by considering the meaning of its
terms. Rhetoric invents whatever is persuasive in discourse.
Now, to persuade signifies to influence or control the*(
minds and wills of others ; and for this purpose not only
thoughts, but also the arrangement and proper expression
1 2 Introdiictory.
of thoughts, are to be conceived and invented. Hence the
same definition may be thus more fully expressed : Rheto-
ric is the art of inventing, arranging, and expressing thought
in a manner adapted to influence or control the minds and
•wills of others. Oratory is that branch of rhetoric which \
expresses thought orally. As it has so many elements in
common with the other species of rhetorical composition,
the thorough study of oratory will throw much light upon
the entire field of literary productions.
3. Eloquence is a term whose meaning is often confound-
ed with oratory and rhetoric. Blair, in his Lectures on
Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres, defines it as "the art of per-
suasion," and, in a wider sense, as "the art of speaking in
such a manner as to obtain the end for which we speak."
We prefer, with Webster's Dictionary, to define eloquence
1 as the expression or utterance of strong emotion in a man-
ner adapted to excite correspondent emotions in others. Thus
eloquence, inasmuch as it deals with strong emotions only,
is less extensive in meaning than oratory ; but as it is
not confined to oral discourse, it is, in this respect, more
extensive, and applies also to written language ; so that
we may say an " eloquent essay," and even, with Webster,
an "eloquent history."
4. Oratory, as here explained, is a noble art, worthy of
the study of the noblest and the most earnest minds.
Cicero thought it worth his while to write seven distinct
treatises on this subject ; and the praise which he bestows
on it in his first book De Oratore shows how enthusi-
astically he admired the power of the orator. " Nothing -
appears to me more excellent," he writes, " than the power
of holding enchained the minds of an assembly by the
charm of speech, of fascinating their hearts, impelling their
wills whithersoever you desire, and diverting them from
whatsoever you please. This one accomplishment has ever
Introductory. 1 3
exerted the chief attraction and influence among every free
people, especially in times of tranquillity and repose. For
what is so admirable as that, among an infinite multitude
of men, there should rise up one who alone, or almost
alone, can do what nature intended to be done by all ? Or
what is so pleasing to hear and understand as an oration
adorned with wise maxims and noble expressions ? Or
what is so powerful and so grand as that the speech of one
man should control the movements of the people, the con-
sciences of the judges, and the dignity of the senate?
What besides is so noble, so honorable, and so glorious as
to succor the suppliant, to cheer the afflicted, to free from
evil, to save from danger, to retain men in the bonds of
society ? . . . Not to name any further advantages — for
they are almost innumerable — I shall briefly say I feel con-
vinced that on the influence and the wisdom of a perfect
orator depends not only his own dignity, but also, to a
very great extent, the safety of multitudes and the welfare
of the whole republic. Wherefore continue as you are
doing, young men, and apply earnestly to that study in
which you are engaged, that you may be an honor to your-
selves, a help to your friends, and a treasure to your coun-
try " {De OrJ^J,).
5. Lord Brougham evidently had this passage in his
mind when, in his inaugural discourse pronounced before
the University of Glasgow, he bestowed the following en-
comium on oratory : " It is but reciting the ordinary
praises of the art of persuasion to remind you how sacred
truths may be most ardently promulgated at the altar, the
cause of oppressed innocence be most powerfully defended,
the march of wicked rulers be most triumphantly resisted,
defiance most terrible be hurled at the oppressor's head.
In great convulsions of public affairs, or in bringing about
sajutary changes, every one confesses how important an
1 4 Introductory.
ally eloquence must be. But in peaceful times, when the
progress of events is slow and even as the silent and un-
heeded pace of time, and the jars of a mighty tumult in
foreign and domestic concerns can no longer be heard,
then, too, she flourishes, protectress of liberty, patroness
of improvement, guardian of all blessings that can be
showered on the mass of humankind ; nor is her form ever
seen but on ground consecrated to free institutions. ' Pa-
ris comes, otiique socia, et jam bene institute reipublica;
alumna eloquentia ' — Eloquence is the companion of peace
and the associate of leisure, trained up under the auspices
of a well-established republic. To me, calmly revolving
these things, such pursuits seem far more noble objects of
ambition than any upon which the vulgar herd of busy men
lavish prodigal their restless exertions. To diffuse useful
information ; to further intellectual refinement, sure fore-
runner of moral improvement ; to hasten the coming of the
bright day when the dawn of general knowledge shall
chase away the lazy, lingering mists even from the base of
the great social pyramid — this indeed is a high calling, in
which the most splendid- talents and consummate virtue
may well press onward, eager to bear a part."
6. National Variations. In comparing these two ex-
tracts it will, we think, be apparent that Cicero is more
taken up with the beauty of eloquence, without, however,
ignoring its usefulness ; and Lord Brougham attends more
to its utility, without ignoring its beauty. In fact, the great
orators of England formed themselves upon the vigorous
model of Demosthenes. Now, Demosthenes aimed more
at "power and efficiency"; while Cicero, in most of his
orations, appears to aim rather at "oratorical effect."
Hence the English conception of eloquence is plainer but
not less noble, and is even better suited to ordinary use ;
on the other hand, the Latin affords finer models of the
Introductory. 1 5
epideictic or demonstrative kind, which has also its proper
place. It appears to us that the French, whether led to
it by their national character or by special circumstances,
have viewed oratory more after the manner of the Latins,
and owe in part to this characteristic of their taste the mag-
nificence of many of their orations. "In general," says
Blair (Lect. xxvi.), " the characteristical difference between
the state of eloquence in France and in Great Britain is,
that the French have adopted higher ideas both of pleas-
ing and persuading by means of oratory, though sometimes
in the execution they fail. In Great Britain we have taken
up eloquence on a lower key ; but in our execution, as was
naturally to be expected, have been more correct. In
France the style of their orators is ornamented with bolder
figures, and their discourses carried on with more amplifi-
cation, more warmth and elevation. The composition is
often very beautiful ; but sometimes also too diffuse, and
deficient in that strength and cogency which renders elo-
quence powerful."
It is, of course, not meant that the English possess no
magnificent orations, nor even that magnificent oratory is
exceptional with them ; but only that the great British
orators have not made splendor so much an object as the
Latins and the French, but have rather studied the vigor
of the highest model of orators — Demosthenes. We shall
see in the chapter on demonstrative oratory that American
eloquence aims at the perfection of the Latin.
7. In the study of oratory on which we are about to
enter we shall follow the order which appears the most
natural. The orator must have acquired certain qualities,
which will be the sources of his success. He must then
set to work systematically to prepare his speeches. He
will first collect materials or thoughts for his oration ; next
he will arrange these in suitable order, then proceed to de-
1 6 Introductory.
velop or express them to advantage, afterwards memorize
and deliver his discourse.
Hence we have the following division : The first book
will treat of the Sources of Success in Oratory ; the
second, of the Invention ; the third, of the Arrange-
ment ; the fourth, of the Development or Expression of
Thoughts ; the fifth, of Memory and Delivery. A sixth
book is added on the various Species of Oratory.
This division agrees with Quintilian's in his Institutes,
or " Education of an Orator," the most thorough and
systematic work ever written on this subject. He de-
votes the first portion of his treatise to the early training
of the coming orator ; then (b. iii. c. iii. i) he lays down
this formal division : " The whole art of oratory, as most
of the greatest writers have taught, consists of five parts :
invention, arrangement, expression, memory, and delivery."
The various species of oratory are explained in the course
of his work.
BOOK I.
SOURCES OF SUCCESS IN ORATORY.
8. To attain such eminence in oratory as to deserve
the praises above quoted, the highest talents are re-
quired. In fact, real ekxiuence, which we have defined
the expression of strong emotion in a manner adapted to\
excite correspondent emotions in others, is to a great extent
a gift of nature. Our own great orator, Daniel Webster,
justly considered it to be such. He said : " When pub-
lic bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions,
when great interests are at stake and strong passions ex-
cited, nothing is valuable in speech, farther than it is
connected with high intellectual and moral endowments.
Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which
produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not con-
sist in speech. It cannot be brought from afar. Labor and
learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words
and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they
cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject,
and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression,
the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after it — they
cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the out-
breaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting
forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native
force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly orna-
ments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and dis-
gust men when their own lives and the fate of their
1 8 Sources of Success in Oratory.
wives, their children, and their country hang on the de-
cision of the hour. Then words have lost their power,
rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory is contemptible.
Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued as
in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is
eloquent, then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear con-
ception, outrunning the deductions of logic ; the high pur-
pose, the firm resolve ; the dauntless spirit speaking on
the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every fea-
ture, and urging the whole man onward, right onward to
his object — this, this is eloquence, or rather it is some-
thing greater and higher than all eloquence : it is action,
noble, sublime, godlike action."
9. But it is not altogether a gift of nature. For even
when the occasion is most favorable and the subject
most inspiring it is not the uneducated man that can
stand forth and control a nation. " Even genius itself
then feels rebuked and subdued as in the presence of
higher qualities.'' // must exist in the man, says Webster,
but in the educated man. The great orator is a genius,
but a cultivated .genius, whose every power is developed
to its fullest proportion. Such a genius was Daniel Web-
ster himself ; such were Calhoun and Clay among us ;
such were Chatham, Pitt, Burke, and Fox in England ;
Sheridan, Curran, Grattan, and O'Connell in Ireland ;
Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Flechier, and Fdnelon in
France ; such were Cicero himself at Rome, and Demos-
thenes and Pericles at Athens. In these and all great
orators of every land, without a single exception perhaps,
assiduous labor perfected the man ; careful study and
training contributed, as well as native power, to raise the
orator above his fellows.
10. Even without extraordinary talent a careful train-
ing can achieve much towards the formation of an effi-
Sources of Success in Oratory. 19
cient and elegant speaker. For it is not with oratory as
it is with poetry and other ornamental arts. In public
speaking, even mediocrity has its value. Besides, "be-
tween mediocrity and perfection," says Blair (Lect. xxxiv.),
"there is a wide interval. There are many intermediate
spaces, which may be filled up with honor ; and the more
rare and difficult may be complete perfection, the greater
is the honor of approaching to it, though we do not fully
attain it. The number of orators who stand in the high-
est class is, perhaps, smaller than the number of poets
who are foremost in poetic fame ; but the study of ora-
tory has this advantage over that of poetry : in poetry one
must be eminently good or he is insupportable :
" ' Mediocribus esse poetis
Non homines, non Di, non concessere columns.'
— Horace.
" ' For God and man and lettered post denies
That poets ever are of middling size.'
— Francis.
In eloquence this does not hold. There one may hold
a moderate station with dignity. Eloquence admits of a
great many different forms, plain and simple as well as
high and pathetic ; and a genius that cannot reach the
latter may shine with much reputation and usefulness in
the former."
11. Still it remains true that a considerable amount of
natural talent is requisite. "It is my opinion," says
Cicero in his first book De Oralore, " that jiature and
genius contribute most to the powers of eloquence ; for
thlTniind and genius ought to be endowed with certain
quick faculties which, rendering invention acute, make ex-
pression and its embellishments copious, and memory
strong and retentive. It is very well if these faculties
be animated or excited by art, but it is not in the power
20 Sources of Success in Oratory.
of art to supply all these qualities — they are the gifts of
nature. . . . There are some men so stammering in
their expression, so harsh in their tone of voice, so for-
bidding in their look, so unwieldy and rustic in person,
that neither genius nor art could ever make them orators ;
while there are others so happily formed, so endowed by
nature with fitness for the same attainments, that they
seem not only to be born but moulded by the hand of
God for oratory. . . . Natural abilities have been deem-
ed so necessary that Apollonius of Alabanda, a master of
rhetoric, would not allow those whom he thought could
never become orators to lose their time in attending his
lectures. He dismissed them to embrace that art or pro-
fession for which he judged them to be most fitted by
nature."
12. In his second book De Oratore Cicero lays down
this practical rule : " Therefore, in forming an orator, I
first ascertain the extent of his abilities. He must have
acquired a certain amount of learning ; he must have
heard some speaking and done some reading ; he must
have received special precepts. I would then try what
suits him best ; what he can do with his voice, his lungs,
his breath, and his tongue. If I think that he can reach
the level of eminent speakers I will not only advise him
to persevere in labor, but, if I think him a man of prin-
ciple and honor, I will urge him to go on — such lustre,
in my judgment, does a man who combines integrity with
eloquence shed over an entire nation. But if I think,
after he has done his best, that he can only rise to me-
diocrity in eloquence, I shall then leave him to himself to
follow his own inclination, without giving him any great
trouble. But if he have anything distinctly unfavorable
and shocking in his manner I shall then advise him to
discontinue, or direct his views to some other profession."
CHAPTER I.
SPECIAL TALENTS.
13. We shall now consider what natural powers are most
necessary for an orator, and what training will aid to de-
velop each of them. Among the gifts of nature we may
mention first a atrfinjyuiiid, quick to conceive ideas, clear
in judging of their agreement or disagreement, unerring
in drawing the right conclusions from a train of rea-
soning. This is the vis_m£utis spoken of in the familiar
maxim of the ancients : Pectus est quod disertos facit, et
vis mentis — " It is the heart and mental power that make
men eloquent." The mind may be much developed and
strengthened by a thorough course of classical and math-
ematical studies, by reading polemical works remarkable
for cogent reasoning, but especially by the study___of
logic_and philosophy. Much meditation will be of the
utmost advantage ; and it is, perhaps, one of the greatest
drawbacks to the intellectual power of the present gene-
ration that, engrossed by a variety of pursuits and whirled
along by the excitement of the hour, few men have that
leisure for meditation which the great minds of former
times enjoyed. ■ " The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his
time of leisure," says Ecclesiasticus (xxxviii. 25), "and he
that is less in action shall receive wisdom. With what
wisdom shall he be furnished that holdeth the plough? " etc.
14. A second gift is a great sensibility of the_passions
or the heart, called pectus in the maxim just quoted. "By
passion," says Blaif'xLect. xxv.), "I mean that state of
22 Sources of Success in Oratory.
the mind in which it is agitated and fired by some object
it has in view. A man may convince, and even persuade,
others to act, by mere reason and argument. But that
degree of eloquence which gains the admiration of man-
kind, and properly denominates one an orator, is never
found without warmth or passion. Passion, when in such
a degree as to rouse and kindle the mind without throw-
ing it out of the possession of itself, is universally found
to exalt all the human powers. It renders the mind in-
finitely more enlightened, more penetrating, more vigor-
ous and masterly than it is in its calm moments. A man
actuated by a strong passion becomes much greater than
he is at other times. He is conscious of more strength
and force ; he utters greater sentiments, conceives higher
designs, and executes them with a boldness and a felicity
of which, on other occasions, he could not think himself
capable." (' But chiefly with respect to persuasion is the
• 'power of passion felt. Almost every man in passion is
eloquent. Then he is at no loss for words and arguments.
He transmits to others, by a sort of contagious sympathy,
the warm sentiments which he feels ; his looks and ges-
tures are all persuasive ; and nature here shows herself
infinitely more powerful than art. This is the foundation
.of that just and noted rule : Si vis me flere, dolendum est
firimum ipsi tibi — ' If you wish me to weep you must first
' grieve yourself.' "
15. Sensibility of the passions may be- cultivated by
reading the best poets and hearing the greatest orators,
but especially by the acquisition of the social and the
civil virtues, which will readily enkindle the proper pas-
sions when the occasion requires ; thus a man who sin-
cerely .loves his country or his fellow-man will feel his
'. passions aroused at the sight of oppression or misfortune.
(16. A third gift necessary for an orator is a lively imagi-
r
Special Talents. 23
nation. Quintilian, speaking of one of its effects, remarks :
" What the Greeks call Phantasies we call Visions, by which
the images of absent things are so represented to the mind
that we seem to behold them with our eyes as present be-
fore us ; whoever shall be able vividly to conceive those
visions with his imagination will have great power to ex-
cite the passions.'' "These remarks," as the Grammar of
Eloquence justly observes (p. 194), " regard the operations
of the imagination generally, and not the mere figure called
vision. The imagination creates admiration by its beauties
of description, astonishes by its brilliant imagery, delights
by the happy resemblance which its painting bears to na-
ture, and by its magic spell hurries the hearers into love,
pity, grief, terror, desire, aversion, fury, or hatred. It
arouses in others the ardent feelings which gave itself birth
in the speaker's mind, and opens up at pleasure all the
deep fountains of rage, of laughter, and of tears.''
A 17. Power of will is a fourth requisite. This faculty,
/which selects good and rejects evil, though free in its
[choice, is nevertheless very differently disposed in different
persons, partly by nature and partly as a result of habits
gradually acquired. "The orator," says Barry (p. 201),
"must have a strong, firm, unconquerable will to maintain
his personal character by probity of life and fidelity to his
cause__and_duty ; to acquire additional knowledge and
greater perfection in his profession by unceasing applica-
tion ; and to deport himself with respectability, with advan-
tage to himself, his clients, and his country. To succeed
in this nothing is more useful than to have regular and
fixed habits, to husband time by distributing it into sepa-
rate hours for study, business, and relaxation." Some one
has defined genius to be the power of devoting one's self
to an object ; if so, then a strong will is often the source
and always the condition of genius.
24 Sources of Success in Oratory.
1 8. Memory is another gift. " What," says Cicero, " shall
I say otThat treasury of all knowledge — memory ? For
unless this faculty be the faithful repository of all the
thoughts and inventions, we know that all the other quali-
fications of an orator, even though they be perfect, must
be fruitless." " Eloquence displays the power of mem-
ory in its full light ; for in eloquence the memory retains
the greatest quantity of matter, and not only the order
of things but of words, and in such an abundance that
patience fails the hearer sooner than memory fails the
speaker " (Barry). A faithful memory is a gift of nature,
but it can be wonderfully improved by constant exercise
and by habits of regularity.
19. That the speaker's outward_ajj|>earance may add
''much to the effect of his words is at once apparent, and
a favorable appearance is evidently a gift of nature ; so
likewise is a strong^and melodious voice. The latter can
be greatly improved by judicidlis~TrnMvation, as was that
of Demosthenes. It may not be improper to recall in this
place the energetic and persevering efforts which this
greatest of orators made to improve his natural gifts and
to remove his natural defects. " He bade adieu,'' says
Plutarch in his life of Demosthenes, " to the other stud-
ies and exercises in which boys are engaged, and applied
himself with great assiduity to declaiming, in hopes of be-
ing one day numbered among the orators. . . . He built
himself a subterraneous study, which has remained to our
times. Thither he repaired every day to form his action
and exercise his voice ; and he would often stay there for
two or three months together, shaving one side of his head,
that if he should happen to be ever so desirous of going
abroad the shame of appearing in that condition might
keep him in. . . . As for his personal defects, Demetrius
the Phalerean gives us an account of the remedies he applied
Special Talents. 25
to them, and he says he had it from Demosthenes himself
in his old age. The hesitation and stammering of his tongue
he corrected by speaking with pebbles in his mouth ; and
he strengthened his voice by running or walking up-hill
and pronouncing some passage in an oration or poem dur-
ing the difficulty of breathing which that exercise caused.
He had, moreover, a looking-glass in his house, before
which he used to declaim and adjust all his motions."
CHAPTER II.
MORAL VIRTUES.
20. But far more important than any physical power in
the orator are the moral virtues with which nature and his
own efforts, with the help of God's grace, have adorned
his soul. " In order to be a truly eloquent or persuasive
speaker," says Blair (Lect. xxxiv.), " nothing is more neces-
sary than to be a virtuous man. This was a favorable posi-
tion among the ancient rhetoricians :\JVon posse oratorem
esse nisi virum bonum — ' That no one could be an orator
except a good man.' " It is the chief duty of education to
make men virtuous ; any system of training which does not
put virtue in the first place is a false system. Now, the
virtues most necessary for an orator are :
21. 1. Elflhity "The greater this power of eloquence
is," says Cicero (De Or. iii. 14), " the more strongly does it
need to be supported by probity and the greatest prudence ;
if you give fluency of speech to a man destitute of these
virtues you will not so much have made an orator as have
put a sword in the hands of a madman.V " If the power of
creation," remarks J. Q. Adams, "could be delegated to
mortal hands, and we could make an orator as a sculptor
moulds a statue, the first material we should employ for the
composition would be integrity of heart. The reason why
this quality becomes so essential is that it forms the basis
of the hearer's confidence, without which no eloquence can
operate upon his belief." This is a reason, but not the
chief reason.
26
Moral Virtues. 27
/ 22. 2. Temperance — i.e., habitual moderation with regard
to the natural appetites. To this Blair refers when he says :
^^othing is so favorable as virtue to the prosecution of
honorable studies. It prompts a generous emulation to ex-
cel ; it leaves the mind vacant and free, master of itself,
disencumbered of those bad passions and disengaged from
those mean pursuits which have ever been found the great-
est enemies to true proficiency." And he quotes these
words of Quintilian : " If the management of an estate,
if anxious attention to domestic economy, a passion for
hunting, or whole days given up to public places of amuse-
ments, consume so much time that is due to study, how
much greater waste must be occasioned by licentious de-
sires, avarice, or envy ! Nothing is so much hurried and
agitated, so contradictory to itself, or so violently torn and
shattered by conflicting passions as a bad heart. Amidst
the distractions which it produces what room is left for the
cultivation of letters or the pursuit of any honorable art ?
No more, assuredly, than there is for the growth of corn in
J Id that is overrun with thorns and brambles."
[. 3. Public spirit, or love of country and the high-
nterests of society. " On all great subjects and occa-
sions there is a dignity, there is an energy in noble senti-
ments which is overcoming and irresistible. £. They give an
/ardor and a flame to one's discourse which seldom fails to
\ kindle a like flame in those who hear, and which, more than
any other cause, bestows on eloquence that power, for
which it is famed, of seizing and transporting an audience.
Here art and imitation will not avail. An assumed char-
acter conveys none of this powerful warmth. It is only a
native and unaffected glow of feeling which can transmit
the emotion to others. Hence the most renowned orators,
such as Cicero and Demosthenes, were no less distin-
guished for some of the high virtues, as public spirit
28 Sources of Success in Oratory.
and zeal for their country, than for eloquence. Beyond
doubt to these virtues their eloquence owed much of its
effect ; and those orations of theirs in which there breathes
most of the virtuous and magnanimous spirit are those
which have most attracted the admiration of ages " (Blair,
Lect. xxxiv.)
24. When we mention love of country among the virtues
of an orator we do not mean that utilitarianism which
looks only to the advantages of the present hour. The an-
cient orators often maintained that virtue practised for its
own sake is the highest interest of society, as Plutarch
teaches when he says (Life of Demosthenes) : " Panatius,
the philosopher, asserts that most of Demosthenes' orations
are written upon this principle, that virtue is to be chosen
for her own sake only ; e.g., the oration on the Crown,
that against Aristocrates, that for the Immunities, and the
Philippics. In all these orations Demosthenes does not
exhort his countrymen to that which is most agreeable or
easy or advantageous, but he points out honor and propriety
as the first objects, and leaves the safety of the state as a
matter of inferior consideration." This conduct of Demos-
thenes placed his popularity above the reach of fickle for-
tune, so that when the battle of Chaeronea was lost " the
people," says Plutarch, " not only acquitted him, but treated
him with the same respect as before, and called him to the
helm again as a person whom they knew to be a well-wisher
of his country."
\__25. 4. Compassion _for_the unfortunate. "Joined with
the manly virtues he should at~the same time possess
strong and tender sensibility to all the injuries, distresses,
and sorrows of his fellow-creatures ; a heart that can easily
relent, that can readily enter into the circumstances of
others, and can make their case his own " (Blair, xxxiv.)
The influence and power which every appearance of public
Moral Virtues, 29
spirit and compassion for the unfortunate imparts to a man
who is thought by his hearers to possess these virtues are
strikingly exhibited in the case even of unprincipled dema-
gogues, such as a Garibaldi, a Mazzini, and the orators of
the Reign of Terror in France. Men like these exert a pow-
erful influence over their followers. Still it is well to re-
mark that they cannot be called orators in the true sense of
the word, for we must estimate an orator's greatness by the
admirable effects which he produces. Now, such speakers
produce nothing admirable ; their work is destruction, and
their path is strewn with the ruins of all that is most noble
and precious. Instead of raising the people above self-
interest, as Demosthenes did, they debase their hearers by"
strengthening their selfish inclinations.
26. ^^Beflfiioleiice. " It is the most captivating of all
human qualities, for it recommends itself to the selfish pas-
sions of every individual. Benevolence is a disposition of
the heart universal in its nature, and every single hearer
imagines that temper to be kindly affected towards himself
which is known to be« actuated by good-will to all. It is
the general impulse of human nature to return kindness
with kindness, and the speaker whose auditory, at the in-
stant of his first address, believes him inspired with a
warm benevolence for them, has already more than half
obtained his end " (Adams, Lect. xv.)
27. 6. '^JJfldeaty is a kindred virtue to benevolence, and
possesses a similar charm over the hearts of men. Modesty
always obtains _the mon^precisely because it_asks nothing.
Modesty lulls alPtKelrritable passions to sleep. It often
disarms, and scarcely ever provokes, opposition. These
qualities are so congenial to the best feelings of mankind
that they can never be too assiduously cultivated. In them
there is no contradiction. If they do not always succeed,
they never totally fail. They neutralize malice, they baffle
30 Sources of Success in Oratory.
envy ; they relax the very brow of hatred and soften the
features of scorn into a smile. But the purest of virtues
border upon pernicious failings. Let your benevolence
never degenerate into weakness, nor your modesty into
bashfulness " (ib.)
I 28. 7. " A decent Confidence is among the most indis-
pensable qualifications of an accomplished orator. Arro-
gance stimulates resentment ; vanity opens to derision ; but
a mild and determined intrepidity, unabashed by fear,
unintimidated by the noise and turbulence of a popular
assembly, unawed by the rank or dignity of an auditory,
must be acquired by every public speaker aspiring to high
distinction. It is as necessaiy to command the respect as
to conciliate the kindness of your hearers " (ib.)
29. 8. " This decent and respectful confidence is but a
natural result of the perfect and unalterable self-command-
which, though last, is far, very far, from being the least
ingredient in the composition of an accomplished orator.
If it be true of mankind in general that he who ruleth his
spirit is greater than he that taketh a city, to no descrip-
tion of human beings can this pre-eminence of self-dominion
be so emphatically ascribed as to the public speaker. . .
When the ebullitions of passion burst in peevish crimina-
tion of the audience themselves, when a speaker sallies
forth armed with insult and outrage for his instruments of
persuasion, you may be assured that this quixotism of
rhetoric must eventually terminate like all other modern
knight-errantry, and that the fury must always be succeeded
by the impotence of the passions " (ib.)
30. 9. To these virtues we may add, with Blair, a habit-
of application and Jjadustry : " It is not by starts of appli-
cation, or by a Few years' preparation of study afterwards
discontinued, that eminence can be attained. No ; it can
be attained only by means of regular industry, grown into
Moral Virtues. 31
a habit, and ready to be exerted on every occasion that
calls for industry. This is a fixed law of our nature, and
he must have a high opinion of his own genius indeed that
can believe himself an exception to it. . . . Nothing is so
great an enemy both to honorable attainments and to the
real, to the brisk and spirited enjoyment of life, as that
relaxed state of mind which arises from indolence and dis-
sipation. One that is destined to excel in any art, es-
pecially in the art of speaking and writing, will be known
by this more than by any other mark whatever : an enthu-
siasm for that art — an enthusiasm which, firing his mind
with the object he has in view, will dispose him to relish
every labor which the means require."
CHAPTER III.
KNOWLEDGE.
31. Having spoken of the natural powers of an orator
and of his moral virtues, we shall add a few remarks about
the knowledge which he should possess.
And, first, he will need a clear and full knowledge of the
particular, profession in which his oratorical efforts are to
be exerted. If he be a lawyer, let him have a thorough
knowledge of the law ; if a divine, let him be a deep theo-
logian ; if a statesman, let him be well acquainted with all
that concerns the prosperity of nations, particularly of his
own country, with its wants, its resources, etc.
32. In addition to this special knowledge every orator
needs a considerable amount of general knowledge^ In
fact, Cicero insists that omnibus disciplinis et artibus^debet
esse instructus orator— ■" An orator shoulcTbe versed in all
the branches of learning." By this he means that he
should at least have received a liberal education, embrac-
ing the thorough study of language, history, philosophy,
and a certain familiarity with the finest productions of
poetry and with the general circle of polite literature.
^--33. Almost all the great speakers who have reflected so
much honor on the English language were classicaljicho-
lars, who from boyhood had developed all their powers of
mind by a liberal education, and, of course, had studied the
masterpieces of ancient oratory in their original tongues.
" Burke, Chatham, Fox, and Pitt," says Chauncey A. Good-
rich in his Introduction to British Eloquence, " stand, by
32
Knowledge. 33
universal consent, at the head of our eloquence." Now,
all these were eminent for classical attainments. Our own
Daniel Webster and Calhoun had richly profited by the
advantages of a classical education ; and they are un-
doubtedly our greatest orators. For of Webster the judg-
ment passed on him by Lowndes has been generally ac-
cepted, that " the North had not his equal, nor the South
his superior,'' and Calhoun was his rival in the South.
34. Of the knowledge of history Cicero says : " Do you
not perceive how far history is the business of an orator ?
I doubt if it be not his principal business/' " The orator,"
observes Quintilian, " ought to furnish himself with a great
number of examples, as well ancient as modern, and there-
fore ought not only to be acquainted with the records of
history, with traditions, and with the events of the day, but
he should not neglect even the fictions of the more cele-
brated poets " (xii. 4). " History," says Dionysius of Hali-
carnassus, " is philosophy teaching by example." Now,
example is universally acknowledged to be more efficacious
than precept. The great orator and statesman Edmund
Burke owed much of his success to his historical knowl-
edge.
35. As to philosophy, two of its departments — viz., logic
and ethics — are indispensable to an orator ; the former " to
forge the weapons which oratory is to wield," the latter to
guide the statesman and the lawyer, and even the divine,
in the studies of their respective professions. For, as J. Q.
Adams notices (Lect. xv.), " a truly virtuous orator must
have an accurate knowledge of the duties incident to man
in a state of civil society. He must have formed a cor-
rect estimate of good and evil ; a moral sense which in
demonstrative discourse will direct him with the instanta-
neous impulse of intuition to the true sources of honor and
shame ; in judicial controversy, to those of justice ; in de-
3+ Sources of Success in Oratory.
liberation, to the path of real utility ; in the pulpit, to all
the wisdom of man and all that the revelation of heaven
have imparted of light for the pursuit of temporal or eter-
nal felicity."
36. Familiarity with the finest productions of poetry and
with the general circle of polite literature, and especially
with the most perfect specimens of ancient and modern
oratory, is indispensable to a perfect orator. Hume has
somewhere remarked that " he who would teach eloquence
must do it chiefly by examples." Without these, precepts
would be almost powerless ; and universal practice has
sanctioned the reading of Demosthenes' and Cicero's ora-
tions in colleges as one of the most direct preparations for
an oratorical career. Likewise the most excellent orations
of modern orators should be carefully studied, and even
their more familiar business speeches will be read with
much profit.
37. In a word, "The orator," says Cicero, "must have
a forest of materials and thoughts. . . . Indeed, it is my
opinion that within the province of an orator everything
falls that belongs to the advantage of his countrymen
and the manners of various nations, whatever regards the
habits of life and the conduct of governments, civil so-
ciety and the public feeling, the laws of nature and the
morals of mankind. Though he is not obliged to answer
distinctly, like a philosopher, on those subjects, he should
at least be competent to interweave them dexterously
into his oration on the cause at issue ; he ought to be
able to speak on such topics in the same manner as the
men who founded laws, statutes, and states, in a plain,
straightforward manner, with luminous perspicuity, with-
out metaphysical disputation, and without dry or profitless
cavilling."
38. To induce young men to strive after the highest per-
Knowledge. 35
fection of the ideal orator, such as Cicero conceived him,
J. Q. Adams, at the end of his fourth lecture, thus ad-
dresses the Sophomores in Harvard University: " To what-
ever occupation your future inclinations or destinies may
direct you, that pursuit of, ideal-excellence which consti-
tuted the plan of Cicero's orator and the principle of
Cicero's life, if profoundly meditated and sincerely adopt-
ed, will prove a never-failing source of virtue and of hap-
piness. ... It must be the steady purpose of a life, ma-
turely considered, deliberately undertaken, and inflexibly
pursued through all the struggles of human opposition
and all the vicissitudes of fortune. It must mark the mea-
sure of your duties in the relations of domestic, of social,
and of public life ; must guard from presumption your
rapid moments of prosperity, and nerve with fortitude your
lingering hours of misfortune. It must mingle with you
in the busy murmurs of the city, and retire in silence
with you to the shades of solitude. Like hope, it must
' travel through, nor quit you when you die ' — your guide
amid the dissipations of youth, your counsellor in the toils
of manhood, your companion in the leisure of declining
age. It must, it will, irradiate the darkness of dissolution,
will identify the consciousness of the past with the hope
of futurity, will smooth the passage from this to a better
world, and link the last pangs of expiring nature with the
first xapture of never-ending joy."
BOOK II.
ON THE INVENTION OF THOUGHT.
39. " The power of eloquence can never appear," says
Cicero (De Or. i. 11), "but when the orator is a complete
masterj>f his subjfifiLIl — Now, it is the aim of the following
'precepts on Invention to aid the orator in " mastering his
subject." Hence their importance. " Invention," says
Blair (Lect. xxxi.), " is without doubt the most material
and the groundwork of the rest." " But with respect to
this," he adds, " I am afraid it is beyond the power of art
to give any real assistance." It would, indeed, be a great
pity if art were so powerless with regard to what is ac-
knowledged to be the most important task of an orator.
Happily, however, such minds as Aristotle, Cicero, and
Quintilian among the ancients, and many of the greatest
rhetoricians among the moderns, judge differently from Dr.
Blair. We shall attempt to follow their teachings, both on
account of the authority which their writings carry with
them, and because the experience of many years devoted
to the teaching of rhetoric has convinced us that the study
of invention is most efficacious in developing the minds
of the young and making them prefer solid thought to
idle declamation. The absence of such precepts from the
Lectures of Dr. Blair greatly impairs the value of a work
so admirable in many other respects, and we are not sur-
prised to hear Macaulay designate Blair as a superficial
36
On the Invention of Thought. 37
critic, which epithet applies to him chiefly on account
of this very omission.
, 40. We shall divide this book on Invention into the
following chapters : 1. A General View of the Intend-
ed Speech ; 2. Sources of Thought ; 3. Intrinsic Topics ;
4. Extrinsic Topics ; 5. Topics of Persons and Moral
Topics ; 6. Use of the Topics ; 7. An Example for Prac-
tice.
CHAPTER I.
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTENDED SPEECH.
41. Before we proceed to search for thoughts on any-
subject or matter it is necessary to fix the following points
clearly in our minds.
/ 1. What is the subject on which we are preparing to
speak ? Thus, when William Pitt spoke on the abolition
of the slave-trade, his subject was the Slave-Trade, not
Slavery ; this latter would be a very different matter.
42. 2. What quesiiott~is to be answered about the sub-
ject? In the example just mentioned the question was,
Whether the slave-trade should be immediately abolished ?
For such abolition was the motion then before the House
of Commons, and in support of it Pitt delivered his fa-
mous speech, " one of the ablest pieces of mingled argu-
ment and eloquence which he ever produced," as Chaun-
cey A. Goodrich remarks in his British Eloquence (p. 579).
To mistake the subject or the question is a disgraceful
fault called ignoratio elenchi — i.e., missing the point. For
instance, such a mistake was the cause of much misrepre-
sentation and useless ill-feeling at the time of the late
Vatican Council, when many leading journalists inveighed
so vehemently against the infallibility of the Pope. They
mistook it for the impeccability of the Pope, and thus
confounded a solemn teaching of the Catholic Church
with an error which no Catholic believes.
43. 3. What is the end intended in the speech, or what
does the speaker hope to accomplish ? For instance, does
38
A General View of the Intended Speech. 39
he aim chiefly at convincing the minds of his hearers ? or
does he rather aim at controlling their wills ? or does he
wish mainly to please ? Thus Webster in his two speeches
at the Bunker Hill Monument aimed at pleasing, in his
speech in Knapp's trial at convincing, in that on the Pre-
sidential .Protest at convincing and persuading. To aim
chiefly at display or pleasure, when there is a more serious
task before us, would incur only the contempt of sensible
men. Besides, we must not forget what Cicero remarks
{De Orat. ii. 77): "While we bring others to our oprffion
'"by three means, by explaining, by conciliating, and by moyr
ing, we must ever pretend to do but one thing — i.e., we
must appear to aim at nothing but explanation ; the other
two must permeate the parts of an oration as the blood
permeates the body." Certainly it would be improper to
tell our hearers that we are going to please or to move
them ; but no sensible man can object to have the matter
explained to him and proofs presented to convince his
mind.
44. 4. What is the exact state oX_the--(jaesJ;ion— i.e.,
what is the precise point on which the parties differ, or
on the decision of which the success of the speech will
chiefly depend ? This is also called placing_th«jinestion.
on itsjrjTojjer^^fogting, and it is of especial importance
in argumentative speeches. In doing this properly the
ability of a lawyer or the skill of a debater will often
appear to the greatest advantage. Thus in Daniel Web-
ster's speech in the Dartmouth College case the gene-
ral question was, whether certain acts of the Legisla-
ture of New Hampshire " were valid and binding on
the plaintiffs, without their acceptance or assent"? The
decision of this question Webster causes to turn on this
particular point : Whether or not the former trustees had
obtained vested rights as sacred as the rights of private pro~
40 On the Invention of Thought.
perty ? If they had, no Legislature could violate them ;
and he maintained that they had. His opponents had to
maintain either that such was not the fact or that the
decision did not depend on this precise point.
45. 5. What are the presirmgtigns in the case — i.e., what
may be taken for granted until it is disproved ? The
following are some of the principal presumptions, com-
mon to many subjects :
(a) In a criminal case the accused party is presumed
innocent until his guilt is proved. This throws the bur-
den of proof on the accuser ; it is enough for the de-
fence to show that the proofs adduced by the prosecu-
tion are not conclusive, no matter how plausible.
(6) In civil claims the presumption is in favor of the
actual possessor — i.e., the one who holds actual posses-
sion need not produce his title till he who wishes to
eject him has proved a legal claim ; if a doubt remains
as to the validity of this claim the present occupant re-
mains in possession.
(c) Legal documents must be supposed to be genuine
till they are proved to be counterfeit.
(d) In legislation no new law should be made till it
is shown to be an improvement.
(e) Uncertain laws do not bind — i.e., our liberty is
not to be hampered by a law whose existence is doubtful.
(/) What is .known -to have been done must be pre-
sumed to have been validly done ; e.g., title-deeds, writs
issued by officials, are supposed to be valid, unless there
is positive proof to the contrary.
(f) The presumption is in favor of morality and the
common good ; thus the presumption is against infidel
speculations, since these debase man and loosen the
bonds of society by removing the highest sanction of
the natural law.
A General View of the Intended Speech. 4 1
(It) The presumption is in favor of what .exists and
against a change ; thus even the Redeemer, when he came
to put an end to Judaism, proved his divine mission by
manifest miracles.
46. The various distinctions of subject, end, question,
and state of the question are treated by J. Q. Adams
under the one name of state of the controversy. His
treatment of this matter appears to us so excellent that
we shall be excused if we quote him here at some length.
" The first and most important of these (essential par-
ticulars)," he says (Lect. viii.), "is what the ancient rhe-
toricians term the state of the controversy. ... A full
and clear understanding of it, applied to the usages and
manners of our own times, is one of the most important
points in the whole science. ... It is the quod erat de-
monstrandu7ti of the mathematicians. It is the mark at
which all the speaker's discourse aims ; the focus to-
wards which all the rays of his eloquence should con-
verge ; and, of course, varies according to the nature and
subject of the speech. In every public oration the speaker
ought to have some specific point, to which, as to the
goal of his career, all his discourse should be directed.
In legislative or deliberative assemblies this is now usually
called the question. In the courts of common law it is
known as the issue. In polemical writings it is some-
times called the point. In demonstrative discourses it is
dilated into the general name of the subject j and in the
pulpit the proper state is always contained in the preach-
er's text. It therefore belongs to every class of public
speaking, and is not confined to judicial or deliberative
oratory, where alone you would, at first blush, suppose
the term controversy could properly be applied. It is,
indeed, probable that it first originated in judicial con-
tests, where it always remained of most frequent use. To
42 On the Invention of Thought.
the other classes it was transferred by analogy. Whoever
speaks in public must have something to prove or to
illustrate. Whatever the occasion or the subject may be,
the purpose of the orator must be to convince or to move.
Every speech is thus supposed to be founded upon some
controversy, actual or implied. Conviction is the great
purpose of eloquence, and this necessarily presupposes
some resistance of feeling or of intellect upon which
conviction is to operate."
47. "I told you that the state of the controversy was
one of the most important points of consideration in the
whole science of rhetoric. As I have explained it to
you in its broadest acceptation, it is to the orator what
the polar star is to the mariner. It is the end to which
every word he utters ought directly or indirectly to be
aimed ; and the whole art of speech consists in the per-
fect understanding of this end, and the just adaptation
of means to effect its accomplishment. This may, per-
haps, appear to you to be so obvious and so trivial a
truth as to require no illustration. And yet you will find
throughout your lives, in the courts of law, in the legisla-
ture, in the pulpit, nothing is so common as to see it
forgotten. Our laws have found it necessary to provide
that in town-meetings nothing shall be done by the in-
habitants unless the subject or state of the controversy
has been inserted in the warrant that calls them together.
In all our legislative bodies rules of order are established
for the purpose of confining the speakers to the subjects
before them ; and certain forms even of phraseology are
adopted, into which every question must be reduced.
Yet even this is not sufficient to restrain the wandering
propensities of debate. . . ."
" The difficulties of ascertaining the true state are, in-
deed, in all practical oratory, much greater than a slight
A General View of the Intended Speech. 43
consideration would imagine. They arise principally from
three sources, which, in the language of the science, are
called co-ordinate, subordinate, and contingent states.
48. " 1. Cagrdinajff-stateB occur when there are more
questions than one, which, separately taken and indepen-
dent of all the rest, involve all the merits of the case. Such
are the several charges of Cicero against Verres. Such are
the impeachments of modern times, both in England and in
our own country. Every article contains a co-ordinate
state with all the rest ; and they may be met with distinct
and separate answers to each charge or by one general
answer to all.
49. "2. Subordinate states are questions distinct from
the principal poirit7"controvertible in themselves and more
or less important to its decision. .... In deliberative elo-
quence you will find a remarkable instance of subordinate
states, skilfully adapted to the main state, in Burke's
speech on his proposal for conciliation between Great
Britain and her then American colonies. His main state
was the necessity of the conciliation. Why ? Because
America could not be subdued by force. This is a sub-
ordinate state. But the proof of his main position depend-
ed entirely upon its demonstration ; and it was a truth so
unwelcome to his audience that it was incumbent upon
him to place every part of his argument beyond the power
of cavil. The depth and extent of research, the adaman-
tine logic, and the splendor of oratory with which he per-
forms this task has, in my own opinion, no parallel in the
records of modern deliberative eloquence. It was for wise
and beneficent purposes that Providence suffered this ad-
mirable speech to fail of conviction upon the sordid and
venal souls to whom it was delivered. As a piece of elo-
quence it has never been appreciated at half its value."
(See the analysis of the oration below, Number 147.)
44 On the Invention of Thought.
50. "3. Incidental, states are questions arising occasion-
ally, and more or less connected with the main question
without being essential to it. They are common to every
species of oratory, though of rarer use in the desk, where
they generally partake of the nature of digressions. But in
legislative assemblies every proposition for an amendment
offered on a bill upon its passage, and at the bar every oc-
casional motion for the postponement of a trial, the admis-
sion of a witness, the disqualification of a juror, or the like,
introduces an incidental question having some relation to
the main state of the controversy. . . "
51. We shall conclude these extracts with this judicious
remark of the same lecturer. Speaking of the state of the
question, he says : " But it is also of high importance to the
hearer of every public speaker. For although some of you
may never intend to follow the practice of public speaking,
yet you will all occasionally be hearers ; and, with your ad-
vantages of education, all will be expected to be judges of
the public orators. You have been justly told that there is
an art of silent reading : the art of collecting the kernel
from the shell, of selecting the wheat from the tares. Let
me add — for it is only another modification of the same
truth — that there is an art of hearing. And one of the most
elaborate exercises is to ascertain the state of the public
speaker's discourse."
52. Examples. We think it useful to exemplify such ex-
ercises by applying the explanations of this chapter to some
of the most renowned orations of the greatest orators. We
shall begin with the Philippics of Demosthenes. Philip,
King of Macedon, whom the Athenians at first despised
as a barbarian upstart, had acquired considerable power.
Partly by skilful intrigue, partly by energetic war-measures,
he was constantly extending his dominions and baffling all
the efforts of the Athenians to stop his progress through
A General View of the Intended Speech. 4 5
Thessaly into Greece, which was weakened by intestine
dissensions. In Athens itself there was a party of poli-
ticians who favored his ambition. Demosthenes had made
it the constant aim of his public life to defeat the crafty foe
and his secret partisans. In several of his speeches, but
especially in his three Philippics, the relations of Athens
with Philip were the subject under consideration ; the ques-
tion, which Adams would call the state of the controversy,
was, whether they should adopt certain vigorous war mea-
sures to oppose him ; but the state of the question, or what
Adams would call the "subordinate state," was not always
the same. In the first speech it is whether there is any use
in adopting vigorous measures, or, in other words, whether
there is any hope of success remaining. In the second and
third Philippics the state of the question is, whether Philip
is truly an enemy, as the orator maintains he is. " The sub-
ject of this speech is simple," says Libanius, referring to
the third oration ; " for while Philip spoke words of peace,
but did many deeds of war, the orator advises the Atheni-
ans to arise and punish the king, since a great danger
threatened themselves as well as all the Greeks in com-
mon." The end intended in each of the Philippics was to
arouse his countrymen to adopt energetic measures. De-
mosthenes did not, with the mass of Athenian orators,
study to gratify the ear of a refined and fastidious audience
by beautiful sentiments clothed in magnificent language ;
but to convince and persuade was his great object, to
which all other things were made subservient.
53. We shall next examine the speech of Cicero for Milo.
Milo, a candidate for the consulship in Rome, and a leader
of the conservative party, while on an official journey, ac-
companied by his wife and a numerous suite of retainers,
had been met by his enemy, Clodius, a violent leader of the
radical party, who was attended by a numerous body of
46 On the Invention of Thought.
armed slaves. A quarrel arose and Clodius was slain.
How far Milo contributed to this result we do not exactly
know ; Asconius gives us one account of it and Cicero an-
other. Cicero, who had formerly been driven from Rome
by this same Clodius, undertook the defence. His speech
on that occasion, as retouched afterwards and published by
himself, is one of the most skilful specimens of pleading in
existence. The matter, or subject, was the murder of Clo-
dius. The question was not whether Milo killed Clodius,
but whether he — or rather his slaves acting without his
orders — killed the aggressor justly, /.<?.,— in -self-defence.
The state of the question, on which Cicero artfully makes
the whole question turn, is this : Which of the two waylaid
the other ? He presents the accusers as having argued that
the murder had evidently been preconcerted, and that Milo
had planned it. Cicero fights them on their own ground :
supposing the murder had been preconcerted, he clearly
shows that Milo could not have planned it ; therefore that
Clodius must have waylaid his enemy, and Milo's party
have acted in self-defence.
54. Lastly, we shall review one of the best speeches of
Daniel Webster. As we shall often have occasion to speak
of this great orator, it may not be amiss to quote Orestes
A. Brownson's opinion of Webster's Works :
" We shall look in vain," says he {Review, July, 1852,
p. 366), " in the whole range of American literature for
works that can rival these six volumes before us. In gene-
ral the end is just and noble, and, with few exceptions that
we could reasonably expect, the doctrines set forth are
sound and important. No man has written among us who
has given utterance to sounder maxims on politics and law,
and no one has done more to elevate political and legal
topics to the dignity of science, to embellish them with the
charms of a rich and chaste imagination, and to enrich
A General View of the Intended Speech. 47
them with the wealth accumulated from the successful
cultivation of the classics of ancient and modern times.
The author has received from nature a mind of the highest
order, and he has cultivated it with care and success. We
see in every page, every sentence of his writings vast intel-
lectual power, quick sensibility, deep and tender affection,
and a rich and fervid imagination ; but we see also the
hard student, the traces of long and painful discipline un-
der the tutelage of the most eminent ancient and modern
masters. Nature has been bountiful, but art has added its
full share in making the author what he is ; and the combi-
nation of the two has enabled him to produce works which
in their line are certainly unrivalled in this country, and we
know not where to look for anything in our language of the
kind really superior to him. As an orator Mr. Webster has
all the terseness of Demosthenes, the grace and fulness of
Cicero, the fire and energy of Chatham, and a dignity and
repose peculiarly his own."
55. The circumstances which led to Webster's Speech
in the Trial of J. F. Knapp were as follows : A peaceful
old man, Mr. White, had been brutally murdered in his
bed at night. Four men were suspected of complicity in
this foul deed and were arrested. One, probably the ac-
tual murderer, committed suicide ; another, by name J. F.
Knapp, was accused as a principal in the murder. Mr.
Webster was employed as attorney for the prosecution.
He proves, in the first part of his masterly oration, that the
murder was the result of a conspiracy, to which the culprit
was a party. Next he shows that the same culprit ren-
dered actual aid to the murderer, or at least was on hand
with the purpose of doing so ; this would make him a prin-
cipal, in the language of the law. The subject is the murder
of Mr. White ; the question, whether Knapp was a principal
to it, Webster makes the question hinge on this precise
48 On the Invention of Thought.
point, Whether Knapp was in Brown Street by appointment
with the murderer for the purpose of aiding in the murder.
The defence had argued that Brown Street was not a good
place whence to render aid. Webster argues that it need
not be ; it is enough that Knapp was there by appointment
with the perpetrator, which supposed fact he endeavors to
prove by a most skilful sifting of the circumstantial evi-
dence. And the argument is all the more remarkable for
its cogency if, as Mr. E. C. Whipple asserts in his late
edition of Webster's great speeches, " Knapp was not in
Brown Street for that precise purpose which the orator
ascribes to him."
CHAPTER II.
SOURCES OF THOUGHTS.
56. When a clear and distinct conception has been
formed of the subject on which we are to discourse, and
of the precise question to be answered about it ; and when
we have determined what point we should select for the
state of the question, we can. next proceed to find an abun-
dant supply of thoughts on the subject. This will enable
us to deal with it so thoroughly, lucidly, and even ele-
gantly as to attain the end for which we speak.
Now, a thought which is intended to convince the hearers
is called an argument — a word which Webster's Dictionary
correctly defines as " a proof or means of proving ; a reason
offered in proof to induce belief or convince the mind."
However, the word argument has been used by many
rhetoricians in a wider sense, and some call an oratorical
argument any thoicgh± that suits the orator s purpose, whe-
ther it be intended to convince, to please, or to persuade.
We are now to consider the sources whence arguments can
be derived.
57. These sources are called Topics by the Greeks, Com-
mon-Places {Loci Communes'), or Seats of Arguments (Sedes
Argumentorum) by the Latins — all figurative expressions,
as if the arguments were to be found in certain localities by
any one who would know how to look for them. This is
exactly the way in which Cicejo-views this matter when he
endeavors to show us the importance of such Topics, re-
minding us at the same time that it requires a careful
49
50 On the Invention of Thought.
search to discover the arguments which they contain. " If
I wished to point out a mass of gold," he says, " that is
buried in several places, it would be enough if I should
describe the signs and marks of the places where it lies, for
then the person to whom I described it might find and dig
it up with ease and certainty ; thus, after I have made
myself master of these marks which indicate where argu-
ments are to be found, I say that all the rest is to be ac-
complished by careful searching. For when these sources
are impressed upon the mind and upon the reasoning facul-
ties, and arranged so as to serve upon all occasions, nothing
then can escape the orator, not only in his contests at
the bar, but in every kind of public speaking " {De Or.
ii. 41).
58. The invention-of these -TopicsJs ascribed to Gorgias,
the sophist, which fact is perhaps no great commendation ;
but no logical mind will thence conclude that they are mere
sophistry. " If it be true," remarks J. Q. Adams, " as by
the concurrent testimony of all the ancient rhetoricians we
are assured, that Gorgias was the inventor of what are
called topics, or common-places, of oratorical numbers, and
of a general plan for extemporaneous declamation upon
every subject, he must be considered as one of the princi-
pal improvers of eloquence. These things are peculiarly
liable to be abused ; but they have been of important use
to all the celebrated ancient orators, and to none more than
to Plato himself" (Lect. iii.)
59. The Topics may be thus defined: Certain leading
considerations which can be applied to any subject for the pur-
pose of studying it in itself and in all its relations to other
things, so as to acquire a clear and full knowledge of the mat-
ter under consideration.
60. They may be variously distinguished : some regard
/things, others persons, and some the motives of peiseBs^
Sources of Thoughts. 51
The last are called Moral Tojbics. Those regarding things
are usually divided into two classes, now commonly called
tog>»> anH Extrjjisic. The Intrinsic Topics are found in
the matter itself which is treated of ; the Extrinsic exist out-
side of it and independent of it. Aristotle called the former
Artificial, because it requires art to find the arguments by
means of them and bring them out of the nature of the sub-
ject ; the latter he called Inartificial, because the arguments
furnished by them are not to be skilfully made up by the
orator, but exist already — such are deeds, written docu-
ments, witnesses, authorities, oaths, etc. {De Orat. ii. 27).
CHAPTER III.
INTRINSIC TOPICS.
61. If any one be inclined to find fault with us for intro-
ducing here a number of classifications, distinctions, and
technical terms, we can only plead in our own defence that
the same is done and must be done wherever accurate
knowledge is aimed at, in rhetoric as well as in philosophy,
in physics, and chemistry, or in the study of law and medi-
cine.
We are studying how to dissect a subject and examine
all its parts. In this portion of our task we shall mostly
follow in the footsteps of the distinguished modern philoso-
pher and rhetorician, Rev. Joseph Kleutgen, S.J., who has
treated this matter with equal brevity and clearness,
62. Examining with him, 1st, the Nature of the subject,
we find in it these four topics, Definition, Enumeration,
Genus, and Species j 2d, the Name of the subject, we find
Notation and Conjugates ; 3d, its Relations to other things,
we have Cause and Effect, Antecedents and Consequences, and
Circumstances ; 4th, its Comparison with other things, we
meet with Contrariety, Likeness, and Likelihood. More
topics might be mentioned, but these are the principal of
the intrinsic kind. On each of these we shall speak with
some detail.
Article I. Definition.
63. The ajesfigitfesi states in clear and exact language
what is meant by the subject under consideration. This is
Intrinsic Topics, 53
one of the most important topics. Many speeches are
vague and ineffectual because the speaker has taken no
pains to define his subject clearly to his own mind and to
the minds of his audience. Often a debate or a case before
a court of justice is gained by a clear definition.
64. As an example of this we may adduce the masterly
plea of Erskine in behalf of Lord Gordon. " Lord George
Gordon," says C. A. Goodrich {British Eloquence), "a
member of the House of Commons, was a young Scottish
nobleman of weak intellect and enthusiastic feelings. He
had been chosen president of the Protestant Association,
whose object was to procure the repeal of Sir George Sa-
ville's bill in favor of the Catholics. In this capacity he
directed the association to meet him in St. George's Fields,
and to proceed thence to the Parliament House with a peti-
tion for the repeal of the bill. Accordingly about forty
thousand persons of the middle classes assembled on Fri-
day, the 2d of June, 1780, and, after forming a procession,
moved forward till they blocked up all the avenues to the
House of Commons.
" Lord Gordon presented the petition, but the House re-
fused to consider it at that time by a vote of 192 to 6.
The multitude now became disorderly, and, after the House
adjourned, bodies of men proceeded to demolish the Ca-
tholic chapels at the residences of the foreign ministers.
From this moment the whole affair changed its character.
Desperate men, many of them thieves and robbers, took
the lead. Not only were Catholic chapels set on fire,
but the London prisons were broken open and destroyed ;
the town was for some days completely in the power of the
multitude.
" When order was at last restored the magistrates, as is
common with those who have neglected their duty, endea-
vored to throw the blame on others — they resolved to make
54 On the Invention of Thought.
Lord George Gordon the scape-goat. He was accordingly-
arraigned for high treason ; and such was the excitement of
the public mind, such the eagerness to have some one pun-
ished, that he was in imminent danger of being made the
victim of public resentment." Kenyon, his senior counsel,
had failed in his defence.
65. Erskine, then a young man, saved him by laying
down a clear and correct definition of High Treason, which
was the indictment against him. He proved that the crime
of high treason, in the only meaning in which it could
apply to the case, supposed premeditated open acts of vio-
lence, hostility, and force; and he was able to show from
copious testimonies that such premeditated open acts were
totally foreign to the mind of his client. The whole speech
is worthy of careful study. Lord Campbell is enthusiastic in
its praise. "Here I find," he says, "not only great acute-
ness, powerful reasoning, enthusiastic zeal, and burning
eloquence, but the most masterly view ever given of the
English law of high treason, the foundation of all our
liberties."
66. A speaker should strive to find or make up such defi-
nitions as even his adversaries cannot refuse to accept. A
lawyer will properly draw his definitions from Blackstone,
Kent, etc. For ordinary purposes our great lexicographers,
Webster and Worcester, are usually good authorities. It
may not be amiss, however, to remark that abstract philo-
sophical terms, and in general all words relating to matters
about which the English mind is less solicitous, are often
very imperfectly defined in these works. There is, perhaps,
no class of terms with regard to which this defect is more
striking than such as are connected with the Catholic re-
ligion, its rites and ceremonies. (See an article on this
subject in the American Catholic Review for April, 1880.)
For such matters the Catholic Dictionary of Addis and
Intrinsic Topics. 55
Arnold may be relied on as furnishing correct defini-
tions.
67. When the orator prepares his own definition he may
do so philosophically or oratorically. A philosophical
definition gives the genus, or class, to which the subject be-
longs, and, along with the genus, it states the specific differ-
ence— i.e., the peculiar property or properties by which this
subject is distinguished from the other species of the same
genus. For instance, " Painting is the fine art which ex-
presses the beautiful by means of colors ; music is the fine
art which expresses the beautiful by means of sound."
The genus is "fine art" — i.e., an art intended to express
the beautiful. One fine art differs from another in the
method of expressing the beautiful : painting expresses it
by means of color, music by means of sound ; color and
sound, then, are the specific difference.
68. The oratprical-4efinition aims more at effect than
at strictness of meaning or exactness of expression. The
Grammar of Eloquence presents the teachings of rhetori-
cians on this subject as follows : An oratorical definition
or description is made in six ways:
1. By enumerating the parts of which it is composed,
as, \Oratory is an art which consists of invention, arrange-
-meiit, style, and delivery."
2TBy effects; as when sin is defined "the pest of the
soul, the stain of conscience, the destroyer of spiritual life,
the dishonor of human nature, the ruin of the world."
3. By affirmation. St. John • Chrysostom thus defined
the Cross of Christ: "The Cross of Christ is the way to
the wandering, the guide to heaven, the hope of those who
suffer injury, the bridle of the rich, the army which op-
poses the proud, the death of a voluptuous life, a rudder to
the seafaring, a haven to the shipwrecked, an asylum to all
the world."
Vc
56 On the Invention of Thought.
4. By negation. Such a definition declares what a
thing is not, that we may the better know what it is. Af-
firmation and negation are sometimes united. Thus Cjceitj"'
/describes Verres : " We have brought before your tribunal,
not a thief, but a robber ; not a sacrilegious wretch, but an
open enemy to all that is sacred and religious ; not an
' assassin, but the most cruel butcher of our citizens and
our allies.''
5. By adjjoncts_prjcircumstances. Of this we can ad-
duce no finer example than that quoted by J. Q. Adams
(Lect. ix.) He says: " Thus, in the funeral oration of
Turenne by Flechier, the orator, to display with greater
force the combination of talents required for commanding
an army, resorts to an oratorical definition. ' What,' says
he — ' what is an army ? An army is a body agitated by an
infinite variety of passions, directed by an able man to the
defence of his country. It is a multitude of armed men
blindly obedient to the orders of a commander and totally
ignorant of his designs ; an assembly of base and merce-
nary souls for the most part, toiling for the fame of kings
and conquerors, regardless of their own ; a motley mass of
libertines to keep in order, of cowards to lead into battle,
of profligates to restrain, of mutineers to control.' "
6. By comparisons and metaphors. Plutarch defines
beauty thus: "A bland enemy, a pleasant ravisher, a de-
ceitful torturer, a snare to our feet, a veil to our eyes. '
Article II. Enumeration.
69. This topic furnishes an abundance of striking, and
often most appropriate, arguments. Enumeration examines
separately and in detail, or passes rapidly in review,
the various parts of a subject. " The letters of Junius,"
says J. Q_. Adams, " ranking in the very first line of elo-
Intrinsic Topics. 5 7
quence, but far lower in moral and political wisdom,
make frequent use of enumeration. His first letter, for
instance, contains an enumeration of the high offices of
state which composed the administration, with a commen-
tary to prove that they were all held by weak and worth-
less men. In his address to the king he asks him on what
part of his subjects he could rely for support if the people
of England should revolt ; and then answers by enumerat-
ing all the other classes of people then composing the
British Empire, and proving that he could depend upon
none of them" (Lect. ix.) A similar example is found in
the peroration of Edmund 'Burke's opening speech at the
trial of Warren Hastings.
70. Enumeration is well suited to open up vast fields of
thought on many subjects. Thus Rev. Thomas N. Burke,
O.P., enters on his lecture entitled " The Catholic Church
the Salvation of Society " with a happy enumeration, say-
ing : " We may analyze society, as I intend to view it, from
an intellectual standpoint. Then we shall see the society
of learning, the society of art and literature. Or we may
view it from a moral standpoint. . . . What has this so-
ciety produced intellectually, morally, and politically ? "
71. As the parts of a whole subject may be separately
considered, so may lesser divisions be more rapidly enu-
merated with happy, and often with brilliant, effect. We
find mental greatness thus presented : " These sights are
grand, whether we behold them in the philosopher, fathom-
ing the depths of mind ; in the geologist, quarrying out
science from the rock and the fossil ; or in the chemist,
deducing the laws of life and death from the crucible and
laboratory — whether we see them in the artist, busied in
the magnificent creations of the chisel and the pencil ; or
in the poet, entering into the treasure-house of imagina-
tion and stringing those rosaries of thought, the jewelled
58 On the Invention of Thought.
epic and the sparkling song ; or in the astronomer, soaring
to the planets, measuring their paths, weighing their mass,
and calling them by their names. But, after all, what is
it ? A few systems, a few poems, a few discoveries, the
writing of a few names in rubies — and that is all of men-
tal greatness " (Dr. Stephens). In a similarly glowing style
Cicero, on the Manilian Law, advocating the appointment
of Pompey to direct the war against Mithridates, enume-
rates the countries over which Pompey had already passed
in his rapid conquests.
Article III. Genus and Species.
72. In rhetoric a general proposition is called a thesis,
as, " Poets deserve praise " ; a particular proposition is
called a hypothesis, as, " Virgil is an excellent poet."
Now, it often happens that a speaker, while treating a the-
sis, will find it useful to dwell for a while on some special
hypothesis, usually in illustration of his thesis. He is then
said to draw an argument from the topic of Species. For
instance, in Thomson's " Seasons " the poet, describing the
effects of heat in the torrid zone, refers thus to the particu-
lar pestilence which destroyed the English fleet at Cartha-
gena under Admiral Vernon :
" You, gallant Vernon, saw
The miserable scene ; you pitying saw
To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm
Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form,
The lip pale quivering, and the beamless eye
No more with ardor bright. You heard the groans
Of agonizing ships from shore to shore ;
Heard nightly plunged, amid the sullen waves,
The frequent corse," etc.
Thus, too, Lord Brougham, in his inaugural discourse,
Intrinsic Topics. 59
turns from his general theme, which is the praise of elo-
quence, to extol the merit of Demosthenes, Cicero, etc.
73. On the other hand, when dealing with a hypothesis
the orator may speak of the whole class or genus to which
his subject belongs. He then draws an argument from the
topic of Genus. " These, topics are often employed," says
J. Q. Adams, " in argumentative oratory, and the speaker's
talent is discerned in the art with which he descends from
a general to a special proposition, or ascends from the spe-
cial to the general."
74. The most familiar example of the topic of jjenus is
that passage of Cicero's oration for the poet Archias in
which he ascends from the praise of his client to the praise,
of poets and poetry in general, rightly judging that what-
ever honors poets in general honors Archias in particular;
For, even in the strictest reasoning, whatever can be predi^
cated of a whole class can be predicated of each species
and individual of that class.
75. But the reverse of this does not hold : it is a fallacy
to reason from a portion or an individual to a whole class.
Scientists are guilty of this sophistry when upon some par-
ticular observations they build up a general theory and
call it a scientific conclusion. For instance, Sir Charles
Lyell, calculating the annual increase of the alluvium at
the Delta of the Nile, allows thirty thousand years for the
formation of the deposit. But Lyell, to justify his calcu-
lation, should prove that in former times the deposit was
not more rapidly formed than at present. His fallacy con-
sists in deducing from the rate of deposit at one time the
same rate of deposit at all times. This is fallacious rea-
soning.
In further illustration of this fallacy we may, with J. Q.
Adams, quote an epigram of Prior ;
60 On the Invention </f Thought.
11 Yes, every poet is a fool —
By demonstration Ned can show it ;
Happy could Ned's inverted rule
Prove every fool to be a poet."
76. In his oration in Knapp's trial Webster has two beau-
tiful passages drawn from the topic of Genus : one when
he develops the general thesis, "Murder will out" {Web-
ster's Works, vol. vi. pp. 53, 54), and immediately after it
when he observes, " Such is human nature that some per-
sons lose their abhorrence of crime in their admiration of its
magnificent exhibition" (ib. 54, 55) — a passage on which
they would do well to meditate who are so fond of adorn-
ing the narrative of crime with the richest charms of lan-
guage in sensational novels and periodical literature.
77. When the topic of Genus is well managed it always
produces a happy effect ; it makes us rise above our subject,
as when Webster at Bunker Hill rises from the laying of
a corner-stone to a consideration of the mighty changes
that had come over the world within the last fifty years
{Amer. Oratory, ii. r. 444)- So likewise Edward Everett,
speaking at Cambridge on the fiftieth anniversary of the
Declaration of our Independence, rises above his subject
to consider the nature of all good government (ib. p. 467).
78. Still this topic is to be used with much caution., for
it departs from the exact subject to dwell on something
more general ; and a speaker who has frequent recourse
to it would deal with generalities and fail to produce any
definite effect on his audience.
Such generalities as speakers frequently drift into, for
want of an intimate acquaintance with their subject, are
also called Common-places. They are very objectionable ;
and the odium of this particular meaning of the term has
often been attached in English literature to the general
common-places or topics which we are now explaining.
Intrinsic Topics. 6 1
79. That abuses may be avoided, observe these cautions :
1 st. Never insist long on a genus, unless it be a matter
rarely treated.
2d. Never refer a trifle to an important genus ; this fault
the poet ridicules, saying :
" Non de vi, neque caede, nee veneno ;
Sed lis est mihi de tribus capellis."
— Martial.
" Talk not of arson, rape, nor murder dire ;
Give me my kids — 'tis all that I desire."
80. The ancient rhetorician Apthonius mentions this
topic of genus as one of the school exercises, or Progym-
nasmata, usually given to boys for composition — e.g., the
praise of patriots, of orators, of soldiers, etc. It is an
easy exercise, and readily lends itself to a declamatory
style giving more sound than sense. But when this defect
occurs, it is not owing to the topic itself, but to the mis-
management of the writer.
81. Lastly, it must be remarked that the meaning of the
word hypothesis, explained in this article, is not to be con-
founded with another meaning of the same term, equiva-
lent to supposition — i.e., something not proved, nor even
asserted, but merely assumed for the sake of argument.
Adams takes the word in this latter meaning when he says
(Lect. ix.) : " The hypothesis of an orator bears the same
proportion to his thesis that traverse bears to plain sailing
in navigation. It is not included under the topics, but in-
cludes them all under a different modification. Hypo-
thesis is the potential or subjunctive mood of rhetoric,
frequently used in every kind of public discourse. It is
peculiarly calculated to excite attention and rivet the im-
pression of the topics employed under it. Read, for in-
stance, Junius' address which I have already quoted, and
62 On the Invention of Thought.
commonly called his Letter to the King. It is, however,
in form a hypothetical speech to the king, introduced in a
letter to the printer ; and a considerable part of its force
is owing to the hypothesis upon which it is raised. Hypo-
thesis is a favorite artifice with all orators of a brilliant
imagination. It gives a license of excursions of fancy
which cannot be allowed to the speaker while chained to
the diminutive sphere of relatives. In deliberative and ju-
dicial orations it affords an opportunity to say hypothet-
ically what the speaker would not dare to say directly.
The artifice is, indeed, so often practised to evade all re-
straint in speech that there is at least no ingenuity in its
employment. The purposes for which it is resorted to from
this motive are often so disingenuous that in seeing it used
and abused, as you will upon numberless occasions through-
out your lives, you will probably go a step beyond the con-
clusion of the philosophical clown in Shakspere and settle
in the opinion that there is much vice as well as much vir-
tue in If."
Article IV. Notation and Conjugates.
82. Notation draws an argument from the name of the
subject, Conjugates from kindred words ; both may be
called the topic of Etymology. This topic is not a very
copious source of arguments, but when it is applicable it
may yield a clear proof. For there is often much virtue in
a name. For instance, in a debate " whether Louis XIV.
or Charlemagne was the greater man," the very name of the
latter, which means Charles the Great, shows that posterity
has recognized his uncommon greatness, whereas the efforts
of many French writers to attach the same epithet to the
name of Louis XIV. have not been generally approved.
83. The virtue that lies in a name arises either from the.
Intrinsic Topics. 63
fact that the name expresses the nature of the subject (e.g.,
Lutheranism, Calvinism, Protestantism, Church of Eng-
land, etc.), or from the fact that the name has been imposed
by Almighty God (as Peter, John, etc.) or by general con-
sent (as Alexander the Great, Washington the Father of
his Country, etc.)
There is a specimen of this topic in the speech of Web-
ster " On the Tariff," where he argues thus : " Allow me,
sir, in the first place, to state my regret, if, indeed, I ought
not to express warmer sentiments, at the names or de-
signations which Mr. Speaker has seen fit to adopt for
the purpose of describing the advocates or the opposers of
the present bill. It is a question, he says, between the
friends of an ' American policy ' and those of a ' foreign
policy.' This, sir, is an assumption which I take the
liberty most directly to deny," etc. The entire passage is
well worth studying ; the retorting of the argument is
masterly.
For a second example see Bayard's speech on the Ju-
diciary, where the orator comments on the words, " The
judge holds his office from the President " (American
Eloquence, ii. p. 71). Another striking example is found
in Father Burke's lecture on Catholic Education (vol. i. p.
363) : " Do they know how to educate ? " etc.
Article V. Causes and Effects.
84. There is scarcely a subject on which the topics of
Cause and Effect will not be found suggestive of good ar-
guments. The Grammar of Eloquence explains them thus :
Cause is that which produces an effect, or that by whose
~p~ower and influence something exists or happens. A cause
may be efficient, as fire is the efficient cause of heat ; or
material, as a piece of marble is the material cause of a
64 On the Invention of Thought.
statue ; or instrumental, as a sword is the instrumental
cause of death inflicted with it ; or formal, as a soul is the
formal cause of man's being what he is, as distinguished
from all other animals ; or final, as victory, or peace, or
territory may be the final cause of war, or the cause of
engaging in war.
85. The following example will illustrate all these causes
combined : a statue of Washington owes its existence to the
artist as the efficient cause ; to his tools as the instrumen-
tal ; to the marble, say, as the material ; to the figure of
the hero as the formal ; and to the decoration of a hall as
the final cause.
86. The way of reasoning from cgjises is :
First, to infer effects from them : He is sowing the whirl-
wind : he will reap the storm.
Cicero uses the final cause thus : " If we consider what
excellence and dignity belong to human nature, we shall
understand how disgraceful is a life of softness and effem-
inacy, and how honorable is a frugal, continent, austere,
and sober deportment."
Secondly, by denying the causes, to deny the effects ; as,
Milo could gain no advantage by attacking Clodius ; there-
fore he cannot be supposed to have done it.
Thirdly, by proving the possibility of effects from the
power of causes to produce them ; as, Miracles are not
impossible to-day, for God's arm is not shortened.
87. Eflect is that which results from a cause, and there-
fore the cause is proved by it ; as, There is much order in
the world, therefore much wisdom in its Maker. Effects
are as numerous and as various as the causes which pro-
duce them. Cicero, in his plea for Archias, eulogizes the
effects of literature thus : " Other things do not belong to all
times, nor to all ages, nor to all places. But studies are the
nourishment of youth, the delight of old age ; they adorn
Intrinsic Topics. 65
prosperity, while in adversity they afford a refuge and a
consolation ; they delight us at home, they are no burden
abroad ; they remain with us by night, on our travels and
in the retirement of our villas." In his book De Sen-
ectute this eminent writer makes the following admirable
observations on the effects of voluptuousness : " Listen, my
excellent young friends, to an old speech of the distin-
guished Archytas of Tarentum, which was communicated
to me when, in my youth, I was staying at Tarentum with
Quintus Maximus. He used to say that nature had in-
flicted no worse plague on men than the desire of bodily
pleasure, because the passions, greedy of this pleasure, were
prone to pursue it rashly and with unbridled license.
Hence, he said, arose treason, and revolutions, and secret
dealings with the enemies of our country ; there was no
crime, no great outrage, to the commission of which the
love of voluptuous pleasure did not impel. He maintained
that adulteries and all such wickedness were brought on
by no other enticements than sensuality ; and that while
nature or a god had given to men nothing more precious
than reason, nothing was more hostile to this divine gift
and blessing than the love of pleasure. For where passion
reigns there is no room whatever for self-command, nor
can virtue exist in the realms of voluptuousness. . . .
Therefore nothing was so detestable, so destructive as
bodily pleasure."
88. All oratory is full of examples of these topics.
The more philosophic the mind, the more it is inclined
to seek the causes of all things. Ordinary people trouble
themselves little about causes, but they can understand
effects ; and few things move an audience more than a
clear and forcible statement of the effects which a pro-
posed measure is apt to produce. Edmund Burke is
always asking, " Why ? whence ? by what means ? for what
66 On the Invention of Thought.
md? with what results? etc." We have a fine specimen
of these two topics in a speech of J. C. Calhoun ( Works,
vol. iv. p. 450) congratulating France after her Revolution.
Why should we congratulate her so soon ? he asks ; she
has only pulled down, but what has she built up ? — i.e., he
finds no cause for congratulation. Next he examines the
effects which such congratulation would produce on other
nations. Lord Chatham, in his speech Against Search-
Warrants for Seamen, vividly traces the bad effects which
such a measure would produce {Brit. Eloq., p. 79). The
entire speech is drawn from the topics explained in the
present article.
Article VI. Circumstances.
V
89. The topic of Circumstances is another copious source
of arguments. Circumstances- are such things as do not
necessarily belong to a subject, but happen to attend it
on the present occasion ; they may be summed up in the
following verse :
Quis ? quid? ubi? per quos ? quoties ? cur? quomodo ? quando ?
" Who? where? by whom? how? when? how oft? and why?"
If these be applied — to take an example from sacred ora-
tory—to the scene of the Redeemer dying on Calvary, it
will appear at once how many appropriate thoughts may
be suggested by the topic of circumstances.
90. Four kinds of circumstances are most suggestive of
arguments — viz., those of persons, things, places, and times.
1. The persons may be chief agents, accomplices, wit-
nesses : we may consider their race, nation, country, sex,
age, etc., as will be explained more fully when we come
to consider the Topics of Persons (chapter v.)
2. The things may precede, accompany, or follow the
event.
Intrinsic Topics. 67
^ 3 and 4. Of the topics of place and time Cicero gives
us a good example in his speech for Milo: " Let us now
consider which of the two nobles was more favored by
the place where they met." " Approach to the city by
night should have been avoided rather than sought by
Clodius."
Lawyers have constantly to deal with circumstantjai.evi-'
dence : for them the sifting of all the circumstances is one
of the chief means of success in the defence or in the pro-
secution of the culprit.
91. A masterpiece of this study of circumstances is
found in the oration of Cicero for Milo. Cicero is trying
to prove that Milo could not have waylaid Clodius. It
is interesting to observe how clearly and skilfully he pro-
ceeds. He shows us Milo starting out, and makes us ac-
company him and study all his movements before, during,
and after the affray in which Clodius perished. Every
circumstance appears to proclaim the innocence of Milo
and the guilt of Clodius. The speech of Webster in
Knapp's trial displays a similar power in sifting circum-
stantial evidence.
92. But it is not only at the bar that circumstances
should be carefully studied ; the following extract from
Grattan's speech on Moving a Declaration of Irish Rights
shows us the efficiency of this topic in another field of elo-
quence: " England now smarts under the lesson of the
American war. The doctrine of an imperial legislature she
feels to be pernicious ; the revenues and monopolies attach-
ed to it she found to be untenable. Her enemies are a host
pouring upon her from all quarters of the earth ; her
armies are dispersed ; the sea is not hers ; she has no min-
ister, no ally, no admiral, none in whom she long confides,
and no general whom she has not disgraced. The bal-
ance of her fate is in the hands of Ireland. You are not
68 On the Invention of Thought.
only her last connection; you are the only nation in Eu-
rope that is not her enemy. Besides, there does of late
a certain dampness and supineness overcast her arms and
councils, miraculous as that vigor which has lately inspired
yours. With you everything is the reverse. Never was
there a parliament so possessed of the confidence of the
people, etc." {Brit. Eloq., p. 387).
Article VII. Antecedents and Consequents.
93. We mean by Antecedents such things as ordinarily
and naturally precede an event, and by Consejyiejices, or
Consequents, such as are apt to follow. Thus a man's for-
mer conduct is called his antecedents, and it furnishes
a means to form conjectures regarding his future conduct.
For though it does not follow that a person who has once
stolen will steal again, still there is a presumption that he
may do so. Thus Cicero shows from the violent character
of Clodius, on the one side, that he was likely to be the
aggressor, and from the usually pacific conduct of Milo,
on the other, that the latter did not plan the assault. As
to consequents, he proves from the calm behavior of Milo
after the affray that he was not conscious of any crime.
Thus, too, Demosthenes is ever interpreting the actions
of Philip by his antecedents.
94. Politicians bring up the antecedents of rival candi-
dates and of rival parties. Henry Clay, in his " Speech'
on the New Army Bill," refutes an opponent by an argu-
ment drawn from his antecedents in the following words
(Amer. Eloq., ii. p. 266) : " But I beg the gentleman's
pardon ; he has indeed secured to himself a more imper-
ishable fame than I had supposed. I think it was about
four years ago that he submitted to the House of Repre-
sentatives an initiative proposition for the impeachment
of Mr. Jefferson. The House condescended to consider
Intrinsic Topics. 69
it. The gentleman debated it with his usual temper,
moderation, and urbanity. The House decided upon it
in the most solemn manner ; and although the gentleman
had somehow obtained a second, the final vote stood one
for, and one hundred and seventeen against, the proposi-
tion," etc.
95. Remark that Antecedents and Consequences con-
sidered as proofs lie, as it were, in a middle region be-
tween causes and effects on the one hand, and circum-
stances on the other. For there is a necessary connection
between causes and effects, and a merely accidental con-
nection between an event and its circumstances ; but
there is a natural connection between a man's present
conduct and his antecedents, and between a fact and its
consequences.
96. In English, Consequents and Consequences are two
words often used as mere synonyms of the word effects j
they are not so used on the present occasion, unless effect
be taken in a looser and wider sense than philosophers
assign to that term. True, it matters little by what name
you call the topic, provided it furnishes good arguments.
But it is very important that a thing should not be con-
sidered as an effect or a consequence when it follows an-
other only accidentally ; and still this fallacy of JVon causa
pro causa, as philosophers call it, is not uncommon. We
may mention as an example in- point the insinuation of the
infidel historian Gibbon, that the decline of the Roman
Empire was owing to the spread of Christianity.
Article VIII. Contraries.
97. The topic of Cojitwcties consists in making a thing
more clear and striking by presenting it by the side of
another thing entirely different or opposite. A scene of
horror is made more impressive by contrasting it with
JO On the Invention of Thought.
a scene of peace and happiness, as black seems darker
by the side of white. Thus Cardinal Manning {Miscell.,
p. 178) makes the revival of Catholicity in England more
striking by comparing it with the former prostration of
the Church there.
Edward Everett, to extol the glory of a volunteer army,
contrasts it with a mercenary army : " It was the people
in their first capacity of citizens, and as freemen, starting
from their beds at midnight, from their firesides and fields,
to take their own cause in their own hands. Such a spec-
tacle is the height of the moral sublime, when the want of
everything is fully made up by the spirit of the cause, and
the soul within stands in place of discipline, organization,
and resources. In the prodigious effort of a veteran army,
beneath the dazzling splendor of their array, there is some-
thing revolting to the reflecting mind. The ranks are
filled with the desperate, the mercenary, the depraved ;
an iron slavery by the name of subordination merges the
free will of one hundred thousand men in the unqualified
despotism of one. The humanity, mercy, and remorse
which scarce desert the individual bosom are sounds with-
out a meaning to that fearful, ravenous, irrational mon-
ster of prey, a mercenary army," etc. ("On the First Bat-
tles of the Revolution ").
98. This topic is variously usedjiu^aaoniag. Sometimes
by proving one point we disprove its opposite ; e.g., " Ros-
cius loved his father ; therefore he did not wish to kill
him " (Cicero).
Or from opposite causes we argue that opposite effects
should be expected ; e.g., " If it is characteristic of bar-
barians to live for the present hour only, wise men should
provide for all the future, even for eternity " (Cicero).
" Philip would advise you to disband your army ; there-
fore you ought to retain it " (Demosthenes).
Intrinsic Topics. Ji
Article IX. Likeness or Similitude.
99. Likeness or Similitude, also called Resemblance, is
the topic which compares like things. Nothing helps
more than a well-chosen similitude to make an abstract
argument clear to an audience. The following rules must
be observed :
1. We should draw our similitudes from objects well
known to the audience.
2. From objects that are noble. Some one has sai'd that
the distinction between an elegant and a common writer
lies in the association of noble thoughts used by the one
and of common thoughts by the other. Dean Swift's "Art
of Sinking in Poetry " is worth consulting on this matter.
3. We should make the points of resemblance strik-
ingly clear.
100. Edward Everett abounds in similitudes ; he thus
proves the necessity of education : " Contemplate at this
season of the year one of the many magnificent oak-trees of
the forest covered with thousands and thousands of acorns.
There is not one of these acorns that does not carry within
itself the germ of a perfect oak, as lofty and as wide-spread-
ing as the parent stock ; which does not enfold the rudi-
ments of a tree that would strike its root in the soil, and lift
its branches toward the heavens, and brave the storms of a
hundred winters. It needs for this but a handful of soil to
receive the acorn as it falls, a little moisture to nourish it,
and protection from violence till the root is struck. It needs
but these, and these it does need, and these it must have ;
and for want of them, trifling as they seem, there is not
one out of a thousand of those innumerable acorns which
is destined to become a tree. Look abroad through the
cities, the towns, the villages of our beloved country, and
think of what materials their population, in many parts
72 On the Invention of Thought.
already dense and everywhere rapidly growing, is, for the
most part, made up. . When an acorn falls upon an
unfavorable spot and decays there we know the extent of
the loss — it is that of a tree, like the one from which it fell;
but when the intellect of a rational being, for want of cul-
ture, is lost to the great ends for which it was created, it
is a loss which no one can measure either for time or for
eternity." If applied to moral or religious education these
thoughts are strikingly true.
101. There is a charming little volume, called The Hap-
piness of Heaven, which in numerous passages exemplifies
most happily the power and the beauty of the topic
similitude. Here is an example : " What is the diamond ?
It is nothing more than crystallized carbon or charcoal.
There is nothing in the whole range of science which can
be so easily and so positively proved as this. The famous
diamond Koh-i-noor, or mountain of light, which now
sparkles in the British crown, and which is worth more
than half a million of dollars, could in a few moments be
reduced to a thimbleful of worthless coal-dust ! Yet how
great a difference in appearance and value between that
precious gem and a thimbleful of coal-dust ! Again,
what are other gems, such as the ruby, the sapphire, the
topaz, the emerald, and others ? They are nothing more
than crystallized clay or sand, with a trifling quantity of
metallic oxide or rust which gives to each one its peculiar
color. Yet what a difference between these sparkling and
costly jewels and the shapeless clod or sand which we
trample under foot ! . . . The most beautiful flowers
and their exquisite perfumes, as well as the delicious fruits
to which they give birth, are all made of the very same ele-
ments of matter as the bark, the wood, and the root of the
tree that bears them. . . . Now, if in the natural order
God can and does transform coarse and shapeless matter
Intrinsic Topics. J 3
into forms so beautiful and so glorious, what shall we say,
of the beauty and perfection into which he will change
our vile bodies ? " etc.
102. Fables are specimens of this topic, and they have
been used by the wisest men with happy effect. Thus
Demosthenes prevented the Athenians from surrendering
their orators to Philip by relating the fable, "The sheep
giving up their dogs to the wolves to obtain peace." By
the fable, " The Stomach and the Hands," Menenius
Agrippa brought the plebeians back to Rome from Mons
Sacer.
103. A far nobler species of similitude is found in those
admirable Parables which our Blessed Saviour used so
copiously to instruct his followers, and in which, even to
the present day, the wisdom of Heaven is distilled like
gentle dew into the highest and the lowest minds on earth.
Article X. Likelihood or Probability.
104. The Comparisqnj)f-P-robabaity-er Likelihood is a
topic which proves a conclusion to be probable or im-
probable by comparing it with other matters more or less
or equally probable. There are three kinds:
1st. The ComparisoA. a Jnajflre argues from a greater
probability to a less, thus : If what was more likely did not
happen, then that which is less likely is not apt to happen ;
e.g., " Our ancestors did not allow even a Grecian state to
grow too powerful : will you allow a barbarian to become
master of Greece ? " (Demosthenes, Third Phil.) The con-
clusion in this kind is always negative.
2d. The Comparisott-aTfiinore argues from a less proba-
bility to a greater, thus : If what appeared less likely has
nevertheless happened, then what appears more likely may
be expected to happen; e.g., "Many persons guilty of less
offences were condemned to death ; therefore Catiline
74 On the Invention of Thought.
should be condemned, who is guilty of greater " (Cicero,
first Catil.) " Our ancestors waged many wars to punish
slighter insults ; therefore we should wage this war to
avenge more grievous injuries " (id. Manil. Law). The
conclusion is always affirmative.
3d. The Comparison a pari argues equal truth from equal
likelihood, thus : If what had a certain probability did hap-
pen, then an event of like probability may be expected to hap-
pen ; e.g., " If you will restore liberty to the negroes be-
cause it was unlawfully taken from them, you must also
restore their lands to the Indians " (Pinkney on the Mis-
souri Question). The conclusion may be affirmative or
negative.
105. It may not be useless to add some further exam-
ples. Everett argues : " We tend the body : much more
must we tend the mind." He says : " The body is not
starved except in cases of cruel necessity. Not starved !
It is nourished and pampered by whatever can provoke
or satisfy the appetite ; the healthy child is nursed and
nourished up into the healthy man ; the tiny fingers which
now weary with the weight of the rattle will be trained
up to a grasp of steel ; the little limbs will learn to stretch
unfatigued over plain and mountain, while the inward
intellectual being will be allowed to remain unnourished
neglected, and stinted. A reason capable of being nur-
tured into the vigorous apprehension of all truth will re-
main uninformed and torpid, at the mercy of low preju-
dice and error. A capacity which might have explored
all nature, mastered its secrets, and weighed the orbs of
heaven in the golden scales of science, shall pass through
life clouded with superstition, ignorant of the most familiar
truth, unconscious of its own heavenly nature. There is
the body of a man, sound, athletic, well proportioned ;
but the mind within is puny, dwarfed, and starved. Could
Intrinsic Topics. 75
we perceive it with our bodily sight we should pity it.
Could the natural eye measure the contrast between a
fully-developed and harmoniously-proportioned intellect
on the one hand and a blighted, stunted, distorted, sickly
understanding on the other, even as it compares a diseased
and shrivelled form with the manly expansion and vigorous
development of health, we should be moved with compas-
sion ; but so completely do we allow ourselves to be the
slaves of material sense that many a parent, who would
feel himself incapable of depriving a child of a single
meal, will let him grow up without ever approaching the
banquet of useful, quickening knowledge " (" On Education
the Nurture of the Mind ").
106. " What man is there among you, of whom if his
son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone ? or if he
shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent ? If you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father who is in hea-
ven give good things to them that ask him ? " (St. Matt,
vii. 9).
" He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how has he not also with him given us all
things ? " (Rom. viii. 32).
" If in the green wood they do these things, what shall
be done in the dry?" (St. Luke xxiii. 31).
107. To the comparison a pari may be referred the nar-
ration of single facts. Thus our Blessed Redeemer relates
the fate of Dives and of Lazarus. Thus, too, Rev. T. N.
Burke {Lectures, vol. ii. p. 169) relates the despair and
(p. 170) the death of a drunkard as a warning to all the
intemperate. This is a popular and powerful kind of argu-
ment.
CHAPTER IV.
EXTRINSIC TOPICS.
108. Of the extrinsic— topics some are common to all
eloquence, others peculiar to certain species of oratory.
Common extrinsic topics are authorities and examples,
which we shall now consider. Of those peculiar to cer-
tain species of eloquence we shall treat in connection with
each species.
Article I. Authorities.
/ 109. Authorities are the sayings of persons who enjoy
great credit for knowledge of a given subject/ Thus Cicero
quofes^Demosthenes, who says that the chief point in elo-
quence is " elocution " or " delivery." Here Demosthenes
is adduced as an authority {and as Cicero quotes this with
approbation, he, too, becomesto us an authority.! It will be
noticed that the word aiithaxity is used in various senses :
sometimes it means a person, sometimes the saying of a
person, and sometimes the weight_oi the saying. It is
evident that good authorities must have great weight with
every sensible audience, since they give us the opinions
of men who command esteem and confidence.
no. The highest possible authority is God's word, or the
testimony of Holy Writ. This is the chief argument in
the pulpit ; it may sometimes be appropriately introduced
in profane eloquence, but in such cases it should not be
frequently used, nor fully developed, nor minutely dis-
cussed, for all feel that such treatment belongs by right to
men who are commissioned to interpret the word of God.
" How shall they preach, unless they be sent] " asks St. Paul.
76
Extrinsic Topics. 77
in. Another weighty authority is that of Common Con-
sentr — i.e., the agreement of all sensible men on certain lead-
ing truths which reason or experience has taught. Thus
reason teaches all men the existence of God, the account-
ability of men, the immortality of the soul, etc. Cicero
uses this topic in Milo's defence when he says : " There
is, then, not a written but an inborn law, which we have
not drunk in nor learned, . . . that we may repel violence
by violence."
112. Proverbs_are received expressions of general con-
victions which have been handed down through genera-
tions. They possess great authority, as embodying the
wisdom and experience of ages, and evidently not invented
for the occasion. Thus Edmund Burke, On the Bristol
Election, brings a strong argument to a fine point by a
received maxim : " Look, gentlemen, to the whole tenor
of your member's conduct. Try whether his ambition
or his avarice have jostled him out of the straight line
of duty, or whether that grand foe of all offices of active
life, that master-vice in men of business — a degenerate
and inglorious sloth — has made him flag and languish in
his course. This is the object of your inquiry. If your
member's conduct can bear this touch, mark it for sterling.
He may have fallen into errors, he must have faults ; but
our error is greater and our fault is radically ruinous to
ourselves if we do not bear, if we do not even applaud,
the whole compound and mixed mass of such a character.
Not to act thus is folly — I had almost said impiety. He
censures God who quarrels with the imperfections of men."
Article II. Examples.
113. ExamjDles,_m the widest sense of the word, may be
defined narratives of facts calculated. _jo_ persuade^ They
are extrinsic proofs when/besides the resemblance or com-
J 8 On the Invention of Thought.
parison which they contain, they derive additional weight
from the person to whom they are attributed ; e.g., " Justus
Lipsius, the most learned man of his day, rejoiced on his
death-bed that he had belonged to a confraternity or so-
dality of the Blessed Virgin Mary." If any dying man
were spoken of as having thus rejoiced, the fact would
afford an argument a pari to show that practices of de-
votion are a source of consolation when life is over ; but
the weight of the argument is much increased by the men-
tal superiority of Lipsius. It is often proper to add some
commendation of the persons whose words or actions are
quoted, as is done here with Justus Lipsius by adding
"the most learned man of his day."
114. The use of this topic of examples in eloquence is
copious_and .very effective. Verba docent, exempla trahunt —
" Words convince, examples persuade," says an old proverb.
All men can understand examples, but not all can follow
a course of reasoning. Both Cicero and Demosthenes
constantly quote the examples of the old Romans and
Greeks. Thus in his first Catilinian oration Cicero proves
thaTCatiline should be put to death, by quoting examples
of similar measures adopted by illustrious Romans against
' criminals of the same class.
115. Erskine, prosecuting Williams for publishing Tom
Paine's Age of Reason, among many able arguments ex-
hibits the examples of great minds that were sincerely
Christian : " In running the mind along the numerous
list of sincere and devout Christians I cannot help re-
gretting that Newton had not lived to this day to have
had his shallowness filled up with this new flood of light.
But the subject is too awful for irony. Newton was a
Christian — Newton, whose mind burst forth from the
fetters cast by nature upon our primitive conceptions ;
Newton, whose science was truth," etc. He thus continues.
Extrinsic Topics. 79
naming and eulogizing his authorities till he concludes
his eloquent enumeration with the following words : " Thus
you find all that is great, or wise, or splendid, or illustrious
among created beings — all the minds gifted beyond or-
dinary nature, if not inspired by their universal Author for
the advancement and dignity of the world, though divided
by distant ages and by the clashing opinions distinguish-
ing them from one another, yet joining, as it were, in one
sublime chorus to celebrate the truths of Christianity, and
laying upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of
their immortal wisdom " (Goodrich, Brit. Eloq., p. 764).
CHAPTER V.
MORAL TOPICS AND TOPICS OF PERSONS.
Article I. Moral Topics.
116. The moral topics are considerations of the justice
and glory, the facility and agreeableness, the utility and
necessity, of the measure under discussion.! These do not
supply a new crass- of -arguments, "such- as could not have
been discovered by the intrinsic and extrinsic sources, but
they are a different and often an easier means to the same
end ; e.g., the glory and advantages are effects, facility
and agreeableness are circumstances, etc. In fact, the
moral topics are only a special application of the other
topics. They are more frequently used to supply general
heads, under which the arguments may be arranged.
117. We shall present a few examples: 1. Grattan, on
moving a Declaration of Irish Rights, considers the justice,
the facility, and the necessity of this measure. Still, there is
not a single argument adduced by him which might not
have been found by means of the extrinsic and intrinsic
topics. In all cases, however, where a special measure is
recommended or opposed, these moral topics should be em-
ployed, as it is but right that the speaker should view the
measure in connection with its justice, honor, facility, etc.
118. 2. When, in 1788, the first and second sections of
the first article of the United States Constitution were
under consideration in the convention of Virginia, Ed-
mund Randolph advocated the " Union " as advantageous,
necessary, and honorable. In his peroration he sums up his
Moral Topics and Topics of Persons. 81
arguments as follows (Amer. Eloq., i. p. 173): "I have
labored for the continuance of the Union. I believe that
our safety, our political happiness and existence, depend on
the union of the States ; and that without this union the
people of this and the other States will undergo the un-
speakable calamities which discord, faction, turbulence,
war, and bloodshed have produced in other countries.
The American spirit ought to be mixed with American
pride — pride to see the Union magnificently triumphant.
Let that glorious pride which once defied the British
thunder reanimate you again."
On the same occasion Patrick Henry spoke several times
in reply to Randolph, ever insisting that neither advantage,
nor necessity, nor honor demanded the acceptance of the
Articles of Union, but that all these motives combined to
condemn these Articles.
Article II. Topics of Persons.
119. Topics of Persons are, as Blair defines them, the
" heads from which any one can_r>e Hcrxiod or pra-t^rri "
(Lect. xxxii.) Hence they are especially useful for what
is called Demonstrative Oratory, which is chiefly employed
in praising and blaming. But as passages containing praise
or blame may, to some extent, find an appropriate place in
any other species of oratory, we treat of the Topics of
Persons in this place among the general topics. Quintilian,
in fact, considers them before he treats of any other source
of arguments.
120. The following are the principal : 1. Birth. It is
honorable to be of a good family, and not less honorable
to have risen from an humble parentage to high dis-
tinction by one's personal qualities and exertions.
2. Nation or country. All nations have their peculiar
82 On the Invention of Thought.
characters and manners, laws and usages, influencing the
life of their citizens.
3. Sex. Some acts are more probable, some are more
heroic, in one sex than in another ; as when, among the
early Christians, a St. Agnes, a St. Cecilia, or a St. Cathe-
rine baffled the combined power and cruelty of their per-
secutors.
4. Age. Wisdom is more surprising in a youth than in
an aged man, and faults are less excusable in riper years :
we do not expect of young Telemachus the maturity of
aged Mentor.
5. Education and discipline. From the perfection or
defect of these, certain results may be validly presumed, or
at least they are made less improbable.
6. Habit of body. A Thersites in form is not apt to be
a Cicero in mind or character.
7. Fortune. The parsimony that might grace a Cincin-
nati might disgrace a Croesus.
8. Condition or station. It makes a great difference to
a jury whether a witness be a professional man or a coun-
try lad, a relative or a stranger to the accused ; as is well
exemplified in the comments of Webster on the testimony
of Knapp's father in the trial of the son.
9. Passions or inclinations. A man's known character
for justice or injustice, for avarice or extravagance, for
mercy or cruelty, for good or bad principles, often deter-
mines belief or disbelief in acts attributed to him.
10. The way ofjiving, Thus a person without any
known means of self-support is more readily suspected of
petty larceny than a wealthy banker.
11. Profession or occupation. A soldier, a merchant,
and a lawyer will not make the same impression upon a
jury.
Moral Topics and Topics of Persons. 83
12. Power, iiiflnescer-elo<||Jienc£fc_or reputation. All of
these may create presumptions of probable consequences,
or they may suggest titles to general esteem.
Such applications of these topics as are peculiar to pane-
gyrics will be considered in their proper place under De-
monstrative Oratory (b. vi. c. iii. 2).
CHAPTER VI.
USE OF THE TOPICS.
121. We have elsewhere quoted J. Q. Adams as remark-
ing of the topics that these things are peculiarly liable to be
abused. It is, therefore, necessary to lay down careful di-
rections for the employment of such oratorical resources.
122. And first we must remind the student that these
topics are not supposed to dispense with talent or extensive
knowledge. " But these Common-Places," says Cicero {De
, Or., ii. 30), " can be of use to that orator only who is
skilled in business, either by the practice which riper age
supplies or by that diligence in listening and thinking
which anticipates maturity of years. For if you bring me
a man who is a stranger to the customs of our city, to the
examples, the laws, the manners, and the predilections of
our citizens, no matter how ready a speaker he may be,
these topics will be of little use to him for the inven-
tion of arguments."
123. Besides, no one should imagine that the topics dispense
^with diligence. " Art will only show you where to search,
and where that lies which you are anxious to find ; the rest
depends on care, attention, reflection, watchfulness, assi-
duity, labor — in a word, as I have repeatedly said, on dili-
gence " {De Or., ii. 35).
1 24. We shall now give a few practical rules for the use
of the topics :
Rule 1. A beginner should on every subject apply all
the topics ; a practised speaker, especially if he has been
trained to this process, will turn at once to those which are
most directly fitted to his present purpose.
84
Use of the Topics. 85
Rule 2. Of the arguments thus discovered we should
reject: (a) All trivial ones, as they make the cause appear
weak ; (o) Those not strictly to the point, as only fit for de-
clamation ; (c) Incorrect and inconclusive ones, as being un-
worthy of us ; besides, being readily refuted, they create a
prejudice against our cause ; (d) Such as are sound, but too
hard to handle successfully, either because they require rea-
soning t<5o subtle for the audience, or because they awak-
en too much prejudice, or ill become our person, age, con-
dition, or talent.
Rule 3. Among the substantial arguments left we
should select the best, being more solicitous to present
weighty proofs than to display a long array of speculations:
Non numeranda, sed ponderanda — " Arguments are not to be
valued by number but by weight," says the proverb. We
should also remember that the argument which is best in
itself may not be best before the present audience in their
present mood and their present circumstances, lest it be
said of us, as of Edmund Burke :
" He kept on refining,
Thought of convincing, while they thought of dining."
Rule 4. Weak arguments, if used at all, should be accu-
mulated or passed over lightly, as not needed but only in-
dicative of what might be said ; thus they are apt to make
a favorable impression, as if the speaker had an abundance
of proofs in reserve.
125. Of this judicious selection of thoughts we may add
a few examples :
1. Demosthenes, while anxious to reanimate the con-
fidence of the Athenians in the First Philippic, confines
himself to these topics :
(A) Cause: " The only cause of your prostration lies in
your indolence."
86 On the Invention of Thought.
(B) Antecedents : "You conquered formerly by your
activity, and Philip became victorious by his activity."
(C) Effects: "As soon as you begin earnestly many
cities will join you ; while if you remain inactive no one
will begin."
126. 2. William Pitt, in his speech On the Abolition of
the Slave-Trade, dwells chiefly on these topics : {A) The
abolition is expedient ; (B) It is just ; (C) The continuance
of the trade is unjust. To prove the first point he examines
the probable effects of abolition ; in the second he argues
that the effects will violate no vested rights ; to prove the
third he considers the causes and the circumstances of the
slave-trade.
127. When the topics are applied according to the pre-
cepts and explanations so far given, there is evidently no
danger of the abuse which Blair condemns in his thirty-
second lecture, saying : " One who had no other aim but to
talk copiously and plausibly, by consulting them (the top-
ics) on every subject, and laying hold of all that they sug-
gested, might discourse without end ; and that, too, though
he had none but the most superficial knowledge of his sub-
ject. But such discourses could be no other than trivial."
He adds very correctly : " What is truly solid and per-
suasive must be drawn ex visceribus causa — from a thorough
knowledge of the subject and profound meditation on it."
This is just the point : what more thorough knowledge can
L^ had of any subject than that which embraces a clear
and correct definition of it, a study of all its parts, of its
causes and effects, its circumstances, its likeness and points
of opposition with other things — in a word, of all that the
topics direct us to investigate ? We can scarcely imagine
that so judicious an author as Dr. Blair could have failed
to set a high value on the Common-Places, if he had ex-
amined them with the diligence which they deserve.
Use of the Topics. 87
128. There is no discourse of considerable merit which
is not a proof of the applicability of these topics. Blair's
own lectures are illustrations of this. Thus, if we sim-
ply consult the brief analysis appended to each lecture, we
shall find that the author usually considers the definition
of each subject, enumerates its parts or species, traces its
causes and its effects, etc. ; e.g., in Lecture iv. he examines :
1. The meaning or definition of the sublime ; 2. Its foun-
dation or chief cause ; 3. Examples of it ; 4. Its nature
or essential requisites; 5. Its sources or special causes;
6. The faults opposed or contrary to it.
129. Lastly, we must observe that the topics do not dis-
pense us from reading for information on the subject : no
one pretends that they are all-sufficient of themselves. On
the contrary, one who applies them to any subject will, by
means of them, soon find out what points are not sufficient-
ly clear to him, and he will thus be directed by the topics
in his reading and consultation. For instance, should one
undertake to write a discourse on so familiar a theme as
liberty, he is apt soon to find out, perhaps to his own sur-
prise, that his ideas on the very nature or definition of
liberty are rather vague, and that he needs to consult
Blackstone or some other author to clear or to inform his
mind.
130. There are even occasions when a speaker knows
so little about his intended subject that he finds it neces-
sary to begin at once to read on the matter before apply-
ing the topics at all. Such reading for information is
called by Rev. M. Bautain {Art of Extempore Speaking')
the indirect method of studying a subject — the applica-
tion of the topics being the direct method, superior to the
other. When we thus attempt to read on a subject it is
not usually from orations that we are to derive our in-
formation on the given matter ; but whatever we may read.
88 On the Invention of Thought.
we shall be benefited by observing the following directions
taken from the work just quoted (English translation) :
131. "Always read pencil in hand. Mark the parts
which most strike you, those in which you perceive the
germ of an idea or of anything new to you. Then when
you have finished your reading make a note ; let it be a
substantial note, not a mere transcription or extract — a
note embodying the very thought which you have appre-
hended, and which you have already made your own by
digestion and assimilation."
132. "Above all, let these notes be short and lucid ; put
them down one under the other, so that you may after-
wards be able to run over them at a single glance."
133. "Mistrust long readings from which you carry
nothing away. Our mind is naturally so lazy, the labor
of thought is so irksome to it, that it gladly yields to the
pleasure of reading other people's thoughts in order to
avoid the trouble of forming any itself ; and thus time
passes in endless reading, the pretext of which is some
hunt after materials, and which comes to nothing. The
mind ruins its own sap and gets burdened with trash :
it is as though overladen with undigested food, which gives
it neither force nor light.''
134. " Do not drop a book until you have wrested from
it whatever relates the most closely to your subject. After
that go on to another and get the cream off, if I may so
express myself, in the same manner."
135. " Repeat this labor with several until you find that
the same things are beginning to return, or nearly so, and
that there is nothing to gain in the plunder ; or until you
think that your understanding is sufficiently furnished,
and that your mind requires rest to digest the nutriment
which it has taken. Rest awhile, for this intellectual di-
gestion " (p. 169, etc.)
Use of the Topics. 89
136. Of the selection and the assimilation Bautain uses
this neat illustration : " Then will he (the reader) do as the
bee does, which rifles the flowers ; for, by an admirable
instinct which never misleads it, it extracts from the cup
of the flowers only what serves to form the wax and the
honey, the aromatic and the oleaginous particles. But, be
it well observed, the bee first nourishes itself with these
extracts, digests them, transmutes them, and turns them
into wax and honey solely by an operation of absorption
and assimilation. Just so should the speaker do. Before
him lie the fields of science and literature, rich in every
description of flower and fruit — every hue, every flavor.
In these fields he will seek his booty, but with discern-
ment ; and, choosing only what suits his work, he will ex-
tract from it, by thoughtful reading and by the process
of mental tasting (his thoughts all absorbed in his topic
and darting at once upon whatever relates to it), every-
thing which can minister nutriment to his intelligence, or
fill it, or even perfume it — in a word, the substantial and
aromatic elements of his honey, or idea — but ever so as to
take in or to digest, like the bee,, in order that there may
be a real transformation and appropriation, and conse-
quently a production possessed of life and destined to
live."
CHAPTER VII.
AN EXAMPLE FOR PRACTICE.
137. We shall conclude our comments on the topics by
applying these precepts to a particular subject.
Suppose I am to write a speech, or an essay, or an ar-
ticle on Religious Liberty. I must first settle with myself
whether I am expected to produce an abstract or philoso-
phical discussion, or whether I have a practical end to at-
tain— e.g., to instil into my hearers a greater love of such
liberty, or perhaps to disabuse them of a wrong concep-
tion of it. This clear idea of my purpose or end will, of
course, direct me in the choice of my arguments.
138. 1. Applying the topic of Definition, I find it neces-
sary to remove all vagueness and to form to myself a clear
and correct conception of true religious liberty, distinguish-
ing it from religious license, as civil liberty is distinguished
from civil license ; for liberty is not the absence of all re-
straint, but the absence of undue restraint. On the true con-
ception of liberty I may read passages in Balmes" Protest-
antism and Catholicity in their Effects on the Civilization of
Europe, pp. 79, 80, 228, 229.
2. The praise of all true liberty would give us a speci-
men of the topic Genns; a reference to the Magna Charta
would be an argument from the Species.
3. Upon the name Liberty I may remark that there are
few words which are more abused. Thus the revolution-
ists in the Reign of Terror in France deluged Paris with
the blood of its noblest and most inoffensive citizens in
the name of liberty.
9°
An Example for Practice. 91
4. The causes which have produced religious liberty
may next be studied. At one time the maxim generally
prevailed, Cujus regio, ejus religio — "The religion of the
ruler is binding on his subjects " — and religious liberty was
almost unknown. Christianity did not force the pagans or
the Jews to become Christians, but it taught that conver-
sion must be voluntary and sincere. Christianity, then, is
the great source of religious liberty. On the other hand,
exaggerated claims in behalf of private judgment would
make all due restraint impossible, or at least illogical, thus
producing religious license, the absence of all law and
order in religion.
5. The effects of religious liberty may be considered
philosophically or historically, also as affecting the indi-
vidual or society at large, as bearing fruit for this world or
for the next.
6. We may consider the opposite condition of society —
viz., religious tyranny, giving its history and describing its
effects.
7. We may institute a comparison with civil liberty, ar-
guing that, if such sacrifices are made by nations to secure
the latter, greater sacrifices should be made to secure the
former.
8. We may quote the praises of religious liberty as
spoken by venerated authorities, and call attention to ex-
amples of its existence ; e.g., in the early colony of Mary-
land, and in the whole United States subsequently to the
first constitutional amendment.
9. The moral topics may show us how just, useful,
pleasing, and necessary it is to protect religious liberty.
BOOK III.
ORDER OR ARRANGEMENT OF THOUGHTS.
139. We shall next consider how the thoughts of a speech
are to be arranged. All rhetoricians attach great impor-
tance to the plan or method of an oration. This plan,
however, is not subject to any certain fixed and unvarying
rules from which no departure is ever allowed. On the
contrary, it will vary with the ever-varying circumstances
of the speaker, his subject, and his audience, and especially
with the end intended, which must regulate all the details
of every task. It is, therefore, impossible to lay down
oratorical plans for every conceivable occasion, as no mili-
tary academy would presume to lay down plans for fu-
ture battles. Still, a general should be familiar with all
the evolutions through which an army can be put, and he
can derive great advantage from the study of the plans
adopted in former battles by military geniuses. Similarly,
the student of oratory should make himself familiar with
all conceivable dispositions of arguments, and study with
great care the plans followed by great minds ; then, when
his own oratorical contests begin, on which, perhaps, as
much may depend as on many a battle, he will marshal his
forces to the-best advantage, being not a little assisted by
his familiarity with all manners of combinations.
140. Order- may be defined a disposition of parts suited to
obtain a certain effect. \ It implies intelligence, and as such
it is not only useful but also beautiful.
Order or Arrangement of Thoughts. 93
141. All order supposes some principle"' of 7>rder — i.e.,
some leading thought which directs us in disposing the
parts. Thus in a library the contents of the books, their
sizes, their manner of bindings may be various principles
of order ; frequently several principles are combined, some
affecting the chief divisions, others the subdivisions.
142. In a speech the principle of order may be natural
or oratorical.
CHAPTER I.
THE NATURAL ORDER.
143. The natural order is either historical, distributive, or
logical.
Article I. The Historical Order.
144. The Historical Order arranges parts with regard to
the time of their occurrence, j It is the obvious or natural
order when a succession of facts makes up the matter of a
speech. Thus Cicero, in his oration for Milo, examines
]successively : 1. All that led to the slaying of Clodius ;
2. The circumstances of the affray ; 3. The subsequent con-
/ duct of Milo — i.e., the antecedents, the circumstances, and the
■ ^consequents.
145. We have another specimen of the historical order in
Webster's Speech in Knapp's Trial, which we shall briefly
analyze.
Introduction. The orator excuses himself for appearing
as the prosecutor.
Preparatory Refutation of certain prejudices.
Division. Two parts : 1. There was a conspiracy to mur-
der White, and the culprit was one of the conspirators.
2. He was a principal in the actual murder.
Part I. The Conspiracy.
Proposition : 1. It existed — proved from its effects.
2. Defendant was a party to it.
Proof 1. Presumption arising from his supposed in-
terest in it.
Proof 2. His intention of stealing White's will — proved
by testimony.
94
The Natural Order. 95
Proof 3. His actual connection with the conspiracy.
(a) Proved by testimony of what preceded the murder.
(/>) Shown by signs after the murder.
Part II. He was a Principal in the Murder.
1. General maxims explained — definition of a " princi-
pal " fully discussed.
2. Application of these — state of the question clearly put.
Proposition : Defendant is a principal — proved from ac-
cumulation of circumstantial evidence.
1. He was a party to the conspiracy, as proved.
2. He cannot prove an alibi.
3. Witnesses certify he was there. The orator sums up
evidence so far established.
4. Testimony of Rev. Mr. Coleman separately con-
sidered.
Peroration : Enumeration of the arguments*
146. The Second Part of Burke's Speech on American
Taxation is another fine model of the historical order. He
considers : 1. The first period — i.e., the policy of the Navi-
gation Act ; 2. The second period, or the attempts to raise a
revenue from America ; 3. The third period, or Lord Rock-
ingham's administration, with Repeal of the Stamp Act ;
4. The. fourth period — i.e., new taxes raised by Townsend.
147. The French are remarkable for regularity in all
their literary productions, particularly in the plans of their
orations. " In this respect," says J. Q. Adams, " they mr.st
be acknowledged far superior to their British neighbors.
The English, indeed, in their literary compositions of all
kinds have been generally too inattentive to the principles
of method" (Lect. xix.) Here is a sample taken from a
lecture of D'Aguessecu, of wh' m Dr. Blair speaks as being
one of the most eloquent orators that have adorned the bar
in any country. He is treating of the Decay of Judicial
Eloquence in Prance.
96 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Introduction : Eloquence, like all good things, may de-
cay— has done so in France.
Preparatory Refutation : The cause is not lack of talents,
of aids, of proper subjects.
Proposition: The cause lies in us.
I. In the dispositions with which we come to the bar :
1. Inferior talent ; 2. Low views ; 3. Superficial pre-
paration.
II. Our conduct at the bar :
1. In youth, eagerness to appear ; hence no study ;
examples ;
2. In manhood, multiplicity of business ; hence ig-
norance of principles, neglect of form ;
3. Hence, in old age, tardy regret.
Peroration : A short exhortation to remedy the evil.
Article II. The Distributive Order.
,-148. The DisJnbutivejOrder arranges things which are
existing at the same time into a number of groups, so that
all the thoughts of the same group have some obvious con-
nection with one another.
149. Here are a few examples :
I. The Third Philippic of Demosthenes.
Introduction : We have rendered our situation as dis-
tressing as possible ; now listen to me, and you may yet re-
dress all.
1st Part. Proposition : Punish Philip and his agents.
(Distributes motives :)
1. Philip has long been attacking us ;
2. All Greece is in danger, and you must defend it ;
3. His agents among you are deceiving you.
2d Part. Proposition : Set to work with energy. (Dis-
tributes motives :)
I. Philip is approaching rapidly ;
The Natural Order. 97
2. His agents are active ;
3. The ruined states ought to be a warning to you ;
4. Till we ourselves begin, no one will join us.
Peroration : Whoever has a better advice to give, let him
give it.
^,-*5oT II. Cicero, on the Manilian Law, arranges his praise
of Pompey under four heads : 1. His skill in war ; 2. His
virtue; 3. His authority ; 4. His success.
^-^iSi7 III. D'Aguesseau, to prove that the orator should
know human nature, views man :
1. With regard to his various faculties:
(a) The mind, which is to be convinced ;
(d) The heart, which is to be moved ;
(c) The imagination, which is to be interested.
2. With regard to his different conditions he views
human nature :
(a) In the orator — he must adapt his speech to his
age and talent ;
(b) In the client — he is to be defended with the
ability of a lawyer and the superiority of an
orator ;
(c) In the judge — he is to be addressed differently
in different ages ;
(d) In the audience — they wish to have their opin-
ions respected.
152. IV. Edmund Burke's oration previous to the Bristol
election. The orator refutes the charges :
1 st charge, neglect of constituents ;
2d charge, giving free trade to Ireland ;
3d charge, relief of insolvent debtors ;
4th charge, relief of Roman Catholics.
This last is developed in the historical order :
(A) Reasons for the persecuting laws ;
(jB) Enacting of the laws ;
g 8 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
(C) Execution of the laws ;
(D) Author of the repeal ;
(£) Reasons for the repeal — enumerated in the
distributive order :
(a) Generous loyalty of Roman Catholics ;
(6) Claims of humanity ;
(c) Beneficial effects on British Empire ;
(d) Beneficial example found in foreign coun-
tries.
Refutation of objections.
A more minute analysis of this able speech is found in
Goodrich's British Eloquence (p. 292, etc.)
Article III. Logical Order.
153. The Logical Order is the order of reasoning — i.e., it
presents the thoughts as links of one connected chain of
reasoning. , This reasoning makes up the whole speech, or
a considerable part of it. In his Discourse on the Maniliari"
Law, Cicero unites all his arguments thus : " An important
war needs a great commander ; but this is an important
war, therefore it needs a great commander ; but such is
Pompey eminently ; hence we should choose Pompey."
154 Edmund Burke, On Conciliation with America, de-^
velops the following enthymeme : " We cannot conquer
America; hence we must make certain concessions." It
will be noticed that in -the development of the plan the
three principles of the natural order are combined. (See
above, number 49.)
Introduction: The subject is one that requires systematic
views ; reluctance of the speaker to come forward, though
invited to do so.
Proposition : Seek peace through conciliation.
Part I. You cannot conquer America.
/. State and circumstances of America. {Distributed :)
The Natural Order. 99
1. Population ; 2. Commerce ; 3. Agriculture ; 4.
Fisheries.
II. Inefficiency of force in such a case. (Distributed :)
This force is : 1. Only temporary ; 2. Uncertain ; 3.
Injurious ; 4. Unprecedented.
III. Spirit of America and its causes. (Distributed .-)
1. Origin of the colonies ; 2. Form of government ;
3. Religion ; 4. Domestic institutions ; 5. Educa-
tion ; 6. Remoteness. Hence the spirit of Ameri-
cans, firm and intractable.
IV. Only three ways possible of dealing with this spirit :
1. To remove causes of offence ; 2. To prosecute as
criminal ; 3. To make concessions. (The reason-
ing here is : Force cannot conquer a powerful nation
animated by the spirit of independence, I. IV. But
America is such, II. III. Therefore, etc.)
Part II. What should be the nature of the concessions ?
The right of taxation is not now the question ; but, as
an act of policy, Americans should be allowed the rights of
Englishmen.
/. Taxation for revenue must be publicly renounced.
1. Inconsistency of insisting on it ; 2. The contest
arose from taxation ; 3. Precedents of rights of
Englishmen granted to (a) Ireland, (b) Wales, (c)
Chester, (d) Durham.
II. America, not represented in Parliament, can aid the
crown by grants of provincial assemblies. — To explain clear-
ly what will be the status of the colonies he lays down a
number of connected resolutions, defending each of them,
and refuting objections.
III. Lord North 's scheme not satisfactory ; proposed plan
preferable.
IV. No direct revenue ever to be expected from America.
CHAPTER II.
THE ORATORICAL ORDER.
155. The Oratorical Order is that which departs design-
edly from the natural order to avoid some special diffi-
culty or to gain some special advantage,^ sacrificing regu-
larity to usefulness.
--T56. Examples — I. When Demosthenes spoke his First
Philippic the natural order of time would have been : 1. Set
to work energetically ; 2. Adopt such and such measures
against Philip ; 3. The result will be great and certain.
But, seeing the Athenians so dispirited, he begins with the
last.
157. II. When Hannibal encouraged his troops on the
Alps in sight of Italy, Livy makes him speak : 1. Of the
circumstance of place : " Here you must conquer or die ";
2. Of the effects: " A rich booty before you"; 3. Of the
circumstances of persons in both armies : " Victory is
easy " ; 4. Of the causes of the war : " Remember the
provocation." The natural order would have been :
causes, circumstances, effects.
15%. III. Cicero, in behalf of Milo, uses the natural
order : 1. The charge is false ; but, 2. Even if true, Milo
should be acquitted as a public benefactor. While Demos-
-thenesr-OTTTihe Chersonesus, uses similar arguments, but in-
verts their order : 1. Even if the charge were true you
should not disband the army ; but, 2. The charge is false.
159. The natural order would require that we keep to-
gether arguments bearing on the same moral topic : e.g.,
The Oratorical Order. 101
such as prove a measure just would occupy one group ;
such as prove it easy another ; such as prove it necessary a
third, etc. But it may occasionally suit the purpose of the
orator to depart from this in order to secure some special
advantage.
1 60. As to the succession of arguments of fliflfcran*
strength, it appears more natural to begin with the least
strong and to proceed in the form of a climax ; but the
oratorical order readily departs from this for a special
reason. " It has been also a subject of inquiry," says
Quintilian (b. v. c. 12), "whether the strongest proofs
should occupy the foreground, to take immediate posses-
sion of the minds of the audience; or should be reserved
for the end, to leave the strongest impression upon their
minds as they go away ; or should be distributed, some in
the beginning and some in the end, the weaker being
placed in the middle (an arrangement based on the order
of battle described in Homer ; for the Iliad tells us that
Nestor placed strong men in front, the weak in the middle,
and the best soldiers in the rear) ; or, lastly, whether the
orator should begin with the weakest and rise by gradation
to the strongest. In my judgment this will depend on the
nature and exigencies of the cause, provided always that
the discourse shall never fall away from vigor into de-
bility."
161. Cicero is more positive (Z>e Or., ii. 77). He says :
" I must find fault with those who place their weakest ar-
guments first ; and I think that they, too, are in fault who,
when they employ many advocates— a custom which I have
never approved — always desire the least efficient to speak
first. For the very nature of things requires that you
reach as soon as possible the expectations of the audience.
If they are disappointed in the beginning the orator must
labor much harder in the succeeding part of the pleading;
102 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
and a cause is in danger when you do not from the be-
ginning prepossess the hearers in its favor. Therefore, as
in the case of the advocates one of the best should speak
/first, so in pleading your strongest points should be first
(urged, provided always, as regards orators and arguments,
j that the distinguishing excellence of an advocate or an ar-
igument be reserved for the final appeal. Middling argu-
iments — for those that are faulty should be rejected —
should be thrown into the middle and enforced in a
body."
162. The rule ut augeatur sempjx^M-JM^t^scat^axaiw —
" that the speech should ever grow and swell " — regards
the effect produced on the minds of the hearers ; i.e., that
their conviction and impulse be ever strengthened, and
their interest never flag. It does not require that each
succeeding argument be stronger in itself than the pre-
ceding.
163. If there is but one strong argument, let it be stated
first, and, after some weaker ones have been treated, let the
strong one return in a new shape. " In all grave and diffi-
cult cases," says the Grammar of Eloquence (p. 399), "the
orator should never fear to repeat, as often as he deems it
useful, his strong arguments, provided he repeats them
with variety. . . Demosthenes on the Crown, Cicero
for Milo, and O'Connell in his numberless speeches on
the rights and wrongs of his country, have all had recourse
to repetitions with great success."
164. In connection with the proper place for each of the
arguments Quintilian makes some remarks about the
greater or less distinctness with which they should be de-
veloped : " If the proofs be strong and cogent they should
be proposed and insisted on separately ; if weak, it will be
best to collect them into one body. For it is right not to
obscure the strong ones by jumbling them together, that
The Oratorical Order. 103
each may appear distinct in its native vigor ; but those that
are intrinsically weak derive strength by mutual support.
. . . For example, an advocate may urge against a per-
son who is accused of killing another in order to inherit
his fortune : ' You expected to come in for the property, and
the property was considerable ; you were in pecuniary diffi-
culties, and the people to whom you owed money were then
pressing you harder than ever ; you had also incurred the
displeasure of the man who had appointed you his heir, and
you knew that he determined to change his will.' Those
arguments taken separately are weak and common ; but
collectively their power is felt, not as a peal of thunder, but
as a shower of hail" (b. v. c. 12).
CHAPTER III.
PLAN OF A DISCOURSE.
165. Having so far studied the invention of abundant
and appropriate thoughts upon the given subject, and the
various principles of order or arrangement, we are now
ready to determine upon some suitable plan for our speech
— a plan which will, as far as circumstances admit, com-
bine the beauty of regularity with the higher consideration
of greatest efficiency. As Rev. M. Bautain, in his Art of
Extempore Speaking, has devoted uncommon care and labor
to the composition of the plan, we can do no better than
quote freely from his pages. True, he supposes the speech
to be extempore j but he means by this term that the speech
has been carefully studied, according to all the precepts so
far explained, that the sketch or plan is to be traced on
paper, but that the oration will remain without a preli-
tninary arrangement of phrases. Whether the speech be
written in full or thus partly improvised, the preparation of
the plan will be the same.
166. " The plan of a discourse is the order of the things
which have to be unfolded. You must, therefore, begin by
gathering these together, whether facts or ideas, examining
each separately in its relation to the subject or purport of
the discourse, and all collectively in their mutual bearings
on it. Next, after having selected those which suit the
subject, and rejected those which do not, you must mar-
shal them around the main idea (the state of the ques-
tion) in such a way as to arrange them according to their
rank and importance with respect to the result which you
Plan of a Discotirse. 105
have in view. But, what is worth still more than even this
composition or synthesis, you should try, when possible, to
draw forth by analysis or deduction the complete devel-
opment of one single idea, which becomes not merely the
centre but the very principle of the rest. This is the best
manner of explaining or developing, because living things
are thus produced by nature, and a discourse, to have its
full value and full efficiency, should imitate her in her
vital process, and perfect it by idealizing that process. In
fact, reason, when thinking and expressing its thought, per-
forms a natural function, like the plant which germinates,
flowers, and bears fruit " (p. 116).
167. " Sometimes the idea thus conceived is developed and
formed rapidly, and then the plan of the discourse arranges
itself on a sudden, and you throw it upon paper, warm with
the fervor of the conception which has just taken place, as
the metal in a state of fusion is formed into the mould and
fills at a single turn all its lineaments. It is the case most
favorable to eloquence — that is, if the idea has been well
conceived and is fraught with life" (p. 178).
168. " But, in general, one must not be in a hurry to form
the plan. In nature life always needs a definite time for
self-organization, and it is only ephemeral beings which are
quickly formed, for they quickly pass away. Everything
destined to be durable is of slow jjrowtfr, and both the
solidity and the strength of existing things bear a direct
ratio to the length of their increase and the matureness of
their production. When, therefore, you have conceived an
idea, do not hasten — unless it be perfectly clear to you at
the first glance — to throw it into shape. Carry it for a time
in your mind," etc.
169. " The moment you feel that your idea is mature, and
that you are master of it in its centre and in its radiations,
its main or trunk lines, take the pen and throw upon paper
106 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
what you see, what you conceive in your mind. If you are
young or a novice, allow the pen to have its way and the
current of thought to flow on. There is always life in its
first rush, and care should be taken not to check its im-
petus or cool its ardor. Let the volcanic lava run ; it will
become fixed and crystallize of itself" (p. 197). "Never-
theless, beware of introducing^ style into the arrangement
of your plan ; it bugrTtTobe like an artist's draught, the
sketch which, by a few lines unintelligible to everybody
save him who has traced them, decides what is to enter into
the composition of the picture, and what place each object
shall occupy. Light and shadow, coloring and expression,
will come later " (p. 196).
170. "Make your plan at the first heat, if you be im-
pelled to do so, and follow your inspiration to the end ;
after which leave things alone for a few days, or at least
for several hours. Then reread attentively what you have
written, and give a new form to your plan ; that is, rewrite
it from one end to the other, leaving only what is necessary,
what is essential. Eliminate inexorably whatever is ac-
cessory or superfluous, and trace, engrave with care the
leading characteristics which determine the configuration
of the discourse and contain within their demarcations the
parts which are to compass it. Only take pains to have
the principal features well marked, vividly brought out,
and strongly connected together, in order that the division
of the discourse may be clear and the links firmly welded "
(P- !97)-
171. What, however, is to be done if the idea, no matter
how long it is carried and revolved in the mind, does not
seem to take shape ? The same author answers : " You
must take pen in hand. Writing is a whetstone or flattening
engine, which wonderfully stretches ideas and brings out
all their malleableness and ductility " (p. 194).
Plan of a Discourse. 107
First take note of any thought which may appear suit-
able to introduce yourself or your subject to the audience.
Next determine whether it will be proper to narrate certain
, .facts or explain your position before beginning to reason.
See what proposition you will lay down, whether openly
or at least in your own mind.
Study what division you can make of your arguments,
and in what order you can marshal your logical forces.
Consider where pathos is apt to find a place naturally.
Reflect whether any objections or difficulties may still
remain which will have to be refuted or removed before
concluding.
Lastly, find some suitable conclusion for your speech.
Take note of each clear thought which then suggests itself
to your mind.
z 172. Hence it will be seen that these eight parts may
occur in an oration : The Introduction or Exordium, the
Narration or Explanation, the Proposition, the Division, the
\ i Proofs or Argumentation, the Pathetic, the Refutation, and
\ \ the Conclusion or Peroration.. We have said that these
•> weight parts may occur, but they need not all occur ; some
excellent speeches will contain no more than two or three
of them.
173. When these several parts occur they will usually
do so in the order in which they have' just been mentioned.
Still, there may be some' variations in this ; e.g., a part, or
even the whole, of the Refutation may sometimes be placed
right after the Introduction when it is important to clear
away prejudices or misconceptions. The Pathetic may
occur almost anywhere, and even several times in the same
speech. We shall treat of it in connection with Argumen-
tation, with which it is usually combined.
CHAPTER IV.
ANALYSIS AND SYNOPSIS.
174. For the thorough study of masterpieces it will be
useful to add some further explanation.
To Analyze (ava-Xvco) is to take apart ; thus a chemist
is said to analyze a compound substance when he resolves
it into the simple elements contained in it. Applied to
literary compositions, it means to examine a piece in all its
details, seeing what are its divisions and subdivisions ;
what it pretends to explain, to prove, or to refute ; what
arguments it employs to gain its end ; how these are ar-
ranged, developed, etc., etc. — in a word, it is to bring to
light all that the composition contains, whether of matter
or of form, of truth or of artifice. '
175. To show the importance of analyzing, we may re-
mark that it is the most thorough manner of studying a
model ; in fact, without such a process the reading of
masterpieces is comparatively of little use.
176. A Synopsis (ffvv-6'ipis) is a brief sketch of the
entire composition, presenting at one glance all that the
analysis has discovered, the skeleton, as it were, of the
masterpiece which has been taken apart, or of a new piece
which is in course of composition.
177. Its principal advantage is this: that it enables us to
see the additional value which each part derives from its
combination with the other parts ; and thus we realize the
skill displayed by a master-mind in the preparation of his
materials to produce the desired composition.
Analysts and Synopsis. 109
178. A good synopsis might contain the following points:
I. A brief statement of the circumstances in which the
oration was delivered.
II. Tke End intended and the State of the question.
III. The chief obstacles to be overcome.
179. IV. The plan of the speech — i.e.,
1. The Introduction, stating what special effects are
aimed at and how these are attained.
2. The Proposition and Division, very exactly stated,
often distinguishing between the apparent and the
real proposition.
3. A statement of what is Narrated or Explained.
4. The Arguments, sketching to the eye their divisions
and subdivisions, and noting the artifices employed.
5. Pathos — what passions ? and how excited ?
6. Refutation, if any, briefly stating the objections and
the answers.
7. Peroration, stating what is aimed at, and how it is
^ attained.
"i8oT~v"7 The effects produced by the speech, with a brief
criticism of the chief excellences and the defects of the
model analyzed.
181. Examples of Synopses.
I. Cicero's Oration on the Manilian Law.
1 I. Pompey had just finished the war against the pirates ;
I Manilius had moved the appointment of the same general
\ to finish the protracted war against Mithridates, King of
IPontus.
I II. End intended: to make the people vote for the ap-
pointment of Pompey.
\ III. Plan.
1. Introduction: formal, solemn ; gains benevolence by
modesty, gratitude, devotedness ; attention by prom-
\ jsing a rich theme.
no Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
2. Proposition : I will speak for Pompey (i.e., I advo-
cate his appointment).
3. Exposition of distress in Asia (brief and vivid).
4. Division, formal :
1. The war necessary ;
2. Vast ;
3. Needs a great commander.
5. Arguments :
Part I. War necessary, on account of —
1. Our glory :
(a) Insult great ;
(b) Unavenged ;
(c) Enemy powerful ;
(d) Glory of ancestors to be maintained.
2. Our allies: tableau of their distress, their
hope.
3. Our revenues :
(a) Riches of Asia ;
(b) Useless in time of fear.
4. Private fortunes :
(a) In Asia ;
(b) At home.
Fart II. War vast : (transition by way of objection).
1. What has so far been done — cold praise of Lu-
cullus.
2 . Why ineffectual :
(a) Mithridates escaped ;
(b) Is reinforced ;
(c) Roman armies restless ;
(d) Sympathy with Mithridates ;
(e) Our defeat ;
(/) Lucullus recalled.
Part III. The commander to be chosen needs four quali-
ties ':
Analysis and Synopsis. m
i. Knowledge of war :
(a) Pompey has had every chance to acquire
it;
(b) Has proved that he possesses it.
2. Virtue :
(a) Chiefly courage ; rapid sketch of his ex-
ploits ; results contrasted with previous dis-
tress of Rome ;
(b) Other virtues, contrasted with vices of
other generals, chiefly disinterestedness.
3. Authority :
(a) Important ;
(b) Great in Pompey.
4. Success:
(a) A special gift to some ;
(b) That of Pompey extraordinary.
Recapitulation of the whole argument of speech.
6. Refutation : appeal from authorities to facts.
I. Hortensius objects :
1. " Give not all to one man."
Answer : " It is well we did not follow your ad-
vice before."
2. " At least make not Gabinius his lieuten-
ant " (digression) :
(a) As he is a special friend of Pompey ;
(b) As he was lately tribune.
Answer : " The first is the very reason to appoint
him ; the second has often been disregarded."
II. Catulus objects :
1. " We cannot afford to expose Pompey."
Answer (jocose) : " If he perish we will take you
next."
2. " Our ancestors avoided innovations,"
1 1 2 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Answer :
(a) " In peace, yes ; in war, no " : examples ;
(b) " Catulus should not oppose the wisdom
of the people."
(c) " No one but Pompey is disinterested
enough."
(d) " Other weighty authorities balance yours."
7. Peroration : cheers on Manilius— promises help ;
protests disinterestedness in the matter.
IV. The speech was successful, but perhaps unfortun-
ately for Rome. Cicero here aided to make one man too
powerful, unconsciously preparing the way for Csesar's
ambition and the civil wars in which Cicero himself per-
ished.
This is probably the most regular great speech in exist-
ence.
182. II. Cicero's Oration for Milo.
For introductory remarks see Book ii. c. i.
Plan.
Introduction . from the circumstances, which were ad-
verse to Milo, but which Cicero interprets favora-
bly, to inspire the judges with confidence ; appeal
to their firmness and compassion.
Proposition : Acquit Milo, who acted in self-defence.
(Division not stated, because Part II. would have cre-
ated prejudice.)
Refutation. Objection 1 (implied) : horror of all blood-
shed.
Answer :
(a) Violence is often lawful — examples ;
(b) Especially in self-defence — examples ;
common consent ; wording of the law.
Obj. 2. " The Senate has condemned Milo,"
Analysis and Synopsis. 113
Answer :
(a) Rather the contrary : " they say I rule
the Senate."
(b) " It has condemned the violence commit-
ted, not the conduct of Milo."
Obj. 3. " Pompey condemns Milo."
Answer :
(a) " Why, then, has he appointed a trial ? "
(b) " The exceptional form of this court is
due to the dangerous times."
(c) " Pompey has selected friends of Milo as
judges."
Narration (most plausible and skilful) of Milo's de-
parture ; the affray.
Argumentation :
Part I. Clodius waylaid Milo.
Order historical :
I. Antecedent to meeting :
1. Final cause :
(a) Cui bono ?
(6) Clodius hated Milo.
2. Antecedents of both rivals — a majore.
3. Journey then and there necessary for Milo ;
rash for Clodius.
II. Circumstances of meeting ; place, equip-
ment ; objections answered.
III. Subsequent events :
1. Slaves freed in pure gratitude.
2. Testimony of Clodius' slaves unreliable.
3. Milo's return to Rome.
4. Present situation : Pompey not hostile ;
Milo his friend (insinuates that Milo may
be needed by Pompey) ; fair trial.
1 14 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Part II Even if Milo had killed him wilfully he
should be acquitted.
Proofs : 1 . From Effects : He has freed Rome
from a plague (an eloquent prosopopoeia).
2. From Contrary : Could Clodius return to
life — I see you shrink from the thought (a
happy hypothesis) ; now, a public benefactor
merits gratitude.
3. From Causes : Death of Clodius the work of
Providence. For there is a Providence, who
had reasons to punish Clodius in that very
place and manner.
Recapitulation of 2d Part : Clodius, a great plague,
could not be resisted except by Milo, who, by de-
stroying him, saved Rome.
Peroration excites mercy for the sufferings of Milo,
and admiration for his unflinching firmness.
183. III. Cicero for Marcellus.
Remark: Ca?sar had just declared in the Senate his will-
ingness to let Marcellus, a former adherent of Pompey, re-
turn to Rome, and had called on each senator present for
some expression of approbation. Cicero is in turn asked
his opinion. He takes this occasion to make one of his
most eloquent speeches ; it is not very regular, but very art-
ful and full of noble sentiments beautifully expressed. It
is one of the noblest orations of this great orator.
His End is twofold :
1. To acknowledge the favor done to his own friend ;
2. To induce Cassar to put a stop to all resentment,
and repair the evils of the civil war. This he
strives to accomplish by two means :
1. By extolling the present act of clemency above
all military glory ;
2. By explaining the task still remaining.
Analysis and Synopsis. 115
Excellences :
1. The praise is magnificent, a model of panegyrics ;
2. The tact most delicate in lecturing Caesar.
Plan.
Introduction brief : reasons to speak after a long si-
lence ; fully satisfied with the situation.
Part I. Expresses and richly develops his appreciation
of the favor done to himself, to Marcellus, to all.
Part II. Extols the act of clemency, both to give Caesar
deserved praise and to suggest further leniency.
Proposition : This act is more honorable than all
your exploits.
Proofs: 1. It is your own entirely ;
2. Most difficult ;
3. Excites more admiration and gratitude
4. Is so highly beneficial.
Pathetic recapitulation and amplification :
5. Under the appearance of extolling the fa-
vor, he here artfully excuses himself, and
Marcellus, and the whole party of Pompey,
laying all the blame on some few extremists.
6. Returning to the point, he gives a beau-
tiful common-place on the praise of gene-
rosity.
Refutation of Caesar's fear of treachery ; danger
improbable among the conquered as well as the
conquerors ; still, caution is just.
Part III. The task remaining to Caesar — -boldly but
delicately told.
Proposition : You have still a great work to do.
Proofs : 1. Description of existing evils ;
2. You must save your country ;
3. Your glory requires it ;
4. Posterity will exact it ;
ii5 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
5. There is no further reason for hostility.
Narration. Still, provide for your safety.
Peroration : Thanks.
184. IV. Speech of Cicero for Murena.
The end intended is to have Murena, consul-elect, ac-
quitted from a charge of bribery brought against him by
his rival, Sulpicius, who was supported by Cato and Pos-
tumius.
State of the question : Did Murena use illegal means to
get voters ?
// had been argued by accusers :
1. That he could not otherwise have defeated Sul-
picius in the election, being his inferior in moral
qualities and in dignity ;
2. That he had actually used bribes.
To refute this, Cicero
1. Disproves his depravity ;
2. Maintains that he was equal to Sulpicius in dignity
and more skilled and fortunate in canvassing ;
3. Disproves his illegal proceedings. Cicero had be-
sides to spare the feelings of the prosecutors, and
to lessen Cato's influence over the minds of the
judges.
The principal beauty of the speech lies in the delicate ad-
dress with which all this is so happily accomplished that
the court was convulsed with laughter, without offence to
any one, and the suit was dismissed.
Plan.
Introduction wins benevolence and docility by —
r. A prayer for concord ; homage paid to the
judges.
2. Excuses :
(a) To Cato ;
(b) To Sulpicius. for undertaking the defence.
Analysis and Synopsis. 1 1 7
Arguments :
Part I. Charges against his morals :
1. His sojourn in Asia was for his father's
sake, and blameless ;
2. The charge that he had disgraced himself by
dancing is disproved from his antecedents.
Part II Respective claims of the two candidates.
Order Historical : 1. Birth — equal enough ;
2. Questorship, too ;
3. Subsequent career as attorney and lieu-
tenant ;
4. Prastorship ;
5. Following year ;
6. Canvassing for consulship — mistakes of
Sulpicius ;
7. Election day — conduct of Catiline.
Part III. Bribery.
Order Distributive : 1. Sad lot of Murena to
come near losing all, and to have such op-
ponents ;
2. Charges of Postumius and young Sulpicius
refuted ;
3. Reply to Cato .
(A) Weakens his influence — no great
name should sway the judges ; Cato's
rules are too rigid, owing to his Stoic
philosophy, which gets all the blame.
(B) Reviews his accusations :
(a) In general, declamations against
bribery are useless where there
was no bribery, no law violated ;
the senate's decree conditional.
(b) As to facts in particular : grand
receptions are common, retinues
1 1 8 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
*
proper ; the shows were not his ;
besides, these too are common.
(c) Cato's principles are too rigid ;
they are useless, unpopular, and
refuted by his own conduct ;
(d) Consequences of the trial ; two
consuls needed now, as great dan-
gers threaten ; even Cato is not
safe. The judges are to deter-
mine whether there shall be two.
Peroration : Fear and pity, both aroused by tableaux.
185. V. Demosthenes' First Olynthiac ('Eni noWwv
fxhv av). The people of Olynthus had asked the Athe-
nians for help against Philip, who threatened to enslave
them.
End intended : to encourage and arouse the Athenians.
Introduction : We may thank the gods for this occasion ;
profit by it.
Part I. To encourage.
Proposition : I will reveal to you Philip's shameful con-
dition.
Proof 1. Considering his allies :
(a) He has grown powerful by deceit — facts
prove it — hence no one will trust him any
longer ;
(0) He cannot keep his allies by main force ;
(c) Power built on deceit is not lasting.
Hence now is the time for us to act, assisting Olynthus,
sending ambassadors to Thessaly.
But we must act at once, else no one will mind us ; and
energetically — this will reveal his weakness.
Proof 2. His own power is little :
(a) Macedon by itself is weak ;
(&) h is weakened by internal discord, as his
A nalysis and Synopsis. 1 1 q
subjects share not his ambition, and they
are the sufferers by these wars ;
(c) Even his army is not what they say,
for through jealousy he discards good gene-
rals ; honest men cannot bear his dissipa-
tion ; hence none but knaves and flatterers
surround him — you know some of them ;
(d) His first reverses will show all this ; com-
parison with hidden diseases.
Proof 3. He is not the favorite of fortune, which
rather favors us. His success arises :
(a) From our neglect and his activity ;
(d) From our folly, who do more for others
than for ourselves ;
(c) From our trifling away precious time.
Part II. To arouse the Athenians to action.
Proposition : We must change our ways.
/. Proofs :
1. The conduct which has ruined all can re-
store nothing ;
2. We cannot afford to lose any more.
II. Plan proposed :
1. Contribute, march out, etc.,
2. Treat your generals better ;
3. Do away with your party spirit ;
4. Contribute equally ;
5. Hear all alike, then judge.
Conclusion : Do not so much applaud your speaker as act
in such a way that you may applaud yourselves.
186. VL Demosthenes' Third Olynthiac ('Avti noWtiov
av).
Circumstances similar to preceding.
Introduction : You wish to know what to do ; well, then,
listen and judge.
i:20 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Part I.
Proposition : We must seize the opportunity.
Proofs : i. Philip is so active that we must be on
the spot ;
2. The opportunity is a good one ; for the Olyn-
thians will be firm allies, as they distrust and
hate Philip ;
3. We have been putting it off too long already ;
4. The gods invite, we must co-operate ;
5. It is our last chance ; proved by rapid sketch
of Philip's encroachments.
Part II
Introduction : You want to know how ; I am afraid
of proposing measures, but I must overlook my
danger.
Proposition 1. Send some troops to Olynthus, others to
Macedon.
Proof : We must divide his power.
Proposition 2. Provide money, or rather use well what
money you have.
Proof : We must have money for this war.
Part III. Enforces these measures by proving :
Proposition 1. Success is certain :
Proofs :
(a) Philip would not have advanced if he had
expected resistance ;
(b) The Thessalonians are unfaithful to him ;
(c) The Paeonians and Illyrians are unreli-
able. Hence set to work ; details.
Proposition 2. Action is necessary.
Proofs :
1. Else the war will come to us, as no one
else will resist ;
2. That will be a great calamity.
Analysis and Synopsis. 121
Conclusion : Let all ranks do their duty.
187. VII. St. John Chrysostom's speech of Flavian to
Theodosins. The people of Antioch had insulted the
emperor during a tumult ; a severe punishment was order-
ed by the latter. The aged Bishop Flavian, in a speech
attributed to his deacon, St. John Chrysostom, pleads for
pardon and obtains it.
Introduction allays the emperor's anger :
(a) By exhibiting humility and love ;
(6) By artfully presenting another object for indigna-
tion ;
(c) By exciting pity for the condemned city.
Proposition (implied) : You should pardon.
Arguments : I Extrinsic .
i. Example of God pardoning man. This is
skilfully treated, showing that in the present
case, as in the example cited, the evil spirit is
chiefly to blame, and is punished by the act of
pardon ;
2. Example of Constantine ; its glory amplified ;
3. Example of Theodosius himself, applying a
wish which he once uttered to the present
case.
/7. Intrinsic :
1. Glory of pardoning shown from its nature and
effects ;
2. Its rewards from God ;
3. The propriety of granting this to a bishop :
(a) It shows more freedom ;
(b) It argues piety ;
(c) The bishop is a messenger from God, the
Judge ;
(d) He comes without gifts, inviting the em-
peror to imitate God.
122 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Peroration . If you do not pardon I will not return to
my people.
The chief beauty lies in the art of insinuation and in ten-
derness and elevation of feeling.
1 88. VIII. St. John Chrysostom's Speech on the Disgrace
of Eutropius.
Eutropius, as prime minister, had oppressed the faithful
of Constantinople ; disgraced, he had sought refuge in the
cathedral ; the indignant populace clamored for his death.
St. Chrysostom ascends the pulpit to calm them, to make
them forgive and intercede for the fallen minister with the
Emperor Arcadius.
It is a model of insinuation, as artful as it is noble. He
appears at first to insist on nothing but what every one
grants — the vanity of honors and riches — thus inspiring pity
for a man who had been beguiled by these, and who is
already so much punished; thus the orator draws tears
from all eyes. Then he ascends to the sublimest senti-
ments of Christianity, and persuades all to pardon their
enemy and intercede for him.
Plan:
Introduction (ex abrupto) : Greatness is vanished, the
foe is prostrate.
Prop. I. The vanity of life should be ever remembered ;
developed by enumeration, description, contrast ;
hence the fall of one should be a lesson for all.
Prop. II. Elevation is not only vain, but dangerous.
Proof . See how the minister is fallen — a tableau
to move pity.
Refutation :
Obf. i. " He has insulted the Church."
Answer : " Therefore God has wished him to feel
her power and her mercy."
Ob/. 2. " No glory in pardoning such a wretch."
Analysis and Synopsis. 123
Answer :
{a) " Such was the harlot pardoned by our
Saviour."
(&) " Thus Christ forgave his enemies on the
cross.''
Peroration contains the main proposition : Let us pray
for him and intercede for him with the emperor.
Effect : His life was spared for the present ; some days
after, having left the church, he was arrested, banished, and
at last executed.
BOOK IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THOUGHT.
• 189. When the arguments of a speech have been collected
and properly arranged, the next task of the orator is to de-
velop all the parts of the plan or synopsis which he has
prepared, so that every thought may be presented to the
best advantage. In this task he may be much assisted by
the precepts which rhetoricians have laid down for the
several parts of the oration. We shall consider these parts
in the order in which they usually occur.
CHAPTER I.
THE INTRODUCTION.
190. The Inti^iwtio»,_i}i_Exq]^um, as Blair remarks,
" is not a rhetorical invention. It is founded upon nature
and suggested by common sense. When one is going to
counsel another, when he takes upon himself to instruct or
to reprove, prudence will generally direct him not to do it
abruptly, but to use some preparation, to begin with some-
what that may incline the persons to whom he addresses
himself to judge favorably of what he is about to say, and
may dispose them to such a train of thought as will forward
and assist the purpose which he has in view. This is, or
ought to be, the main scope of an introduction."
191. "Accordingly Cicero and Quintilian mention three
ends, to one or other of which it should be subservient :
Redder^ auditores benevolos, attentos, dodl&s^ First, to con-
ciliate the good-will of the hearers — to render them bene-
volent, or well affected, to the speaker and to the subject.
Topics for this purpose may, in causes at the bar, be some-
times taken from the particular situation of the speaker
himself or his client, or from the character and behavior
of his antagonist contrasted with his own ; on other oc-
casions, from the nature of the subject, as closely con-
nected with the interest of the hearers; and in general from
the modesty and good intention with which the speaker
enters upon his subject. The second end of an introduc-
tion is, to obtain the attention of the hearers, which may
be done by giving them some hints of the importance,
dignity, or novelty of the subject, or some favorable
125
126 Development of Thought.
view of the clearness and precision with which we shall
treat it, and of the brevity with which we shall discourse.
"fhe third end is to render the hearers docile, or open to per-
suasion, for which end we must begin by studying to re-
,'move any particular prepossessions they may have con-
: tracted against the cause or the side of the argument which
we espouse."
192. " Some one of these ends should be proposed by
every introduction. When there is no occasion for aiming
at any of them, when we are already secure of the good-
will, the attention, and the docility of the audience, as may
often be the case, formal introductions may without preju-
dice be omitted. And, indeed, when they serve for no pur-
pose but mere ostentation, they had, for the most part, better
be omitted, unless as far as respect to the audience makes it
decent that a speaker should not break in upon them too ab-
ruptly, but by a short exordium prepare them for what he
is going to say. Demosthenes' introductions are always
short and simple ; Cicero's are fuller and more artful."
(Lect. xxxi.) "' -J^i,^-~"~'
193. We may distinguish two kinds of Introductions :
the Calm and the Passionate. The latter — the exordium
exjibrupto, as it is usually called — supposes that not only
the speaker but also the hearers are excited by unusual cir-(
/cumstances ; otherwise it would appear unseasonable to b?
gm a speech in a passionate manner. The most familiar
example of this species is the Exordium of Cicero's first
Catilinian oration. In it passion was most opportune.
Catiline, a known conspirator against the state, had dared
to come into the senate when it had been expressly con-
voked to defeat his plans. All shrank from him as from
a criminal. Cicero addresses him thus :
" How long, O Catiline, wilt thou abuse our patience ?
How long wilt thou baffle justice in thy mad career? To
The Introduction. 127
what extreme wilt thou carry thy audacity ? Art thou no-
thing daunted by the nightly watch posted to secure the
Palatium ? . . . Seest thou not that all thy plots are ex-
posed ? that thy conspiracy is laid bare to every man's
knowledge here in the senate ? that we are all well aware of
thy proceedings of last night, of the night before ; the
place of meeting, the company convoked, the measures
concerted ? Alas the times ! alas the public morals ! The
senate understands this. The consul sees it. Yet the
traitor lives ! Lives ? Ay, truly, and confronts us here in
council ; takes part in the public deliberations ; marks and
destines every one of us as a victim for the impending
butchery," etc.
194. The Calgu Introduction may be of three species :
Simple, Solemn, or Insinudting7 Of the Simplfe, which is,
of "course, the most common, here is an example : Edmund
Burke, speaking on the East India Bill of Mr. Fox, begins
thus : " Mr. Speaker, I thank you for pointing to me ; I
really wished much to engage your attention in an early
stage of the debate. I have been long very deeply,
though perhaps imperfectly, engaged in the preliminary in-
quiries, which have continued without intermission for
some years," etc. So the First Philippic and First Olyn-
thiac, the Oration on the Chersonesus, of Demosthenes, and
most other introductions of this great orator.
195. Of the So2§HiB-"w'e have examples in the Oration
on the Crown, in that on the Maniliaji-iaw, in many of
Bossuet's great panegyrics. Webster's Oration at the Lay-
ing of the Corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument be-
gins thus :
" This uncounted multitude before me and around me
proves the feeling which the occasion has excited. These
thousands of human faces, glowing with sympathy and
joy, and, from the impulses of a common gratitude, turned
128 Development of Thought.
reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firma-
ment, proclaim that the day, the place, and the purpose
of our assembling have made a deep impression on our
hearts," etc.
196. Of the Insinuating, Cicero's speech against RuJJjis
contains a beautiful specimen. We give Blair's comments
on the subject. He says (Lect. xxxi.) : " This Rullus was
a tribune of the people, and had proposed an agrarian law
the purpose of which was to create a decemvirate, or ten
commissioners, with absolute power for five years over all
the lands conquered by the republic, in order to divide
them among the citizens. Such laws had often been pro-
posed by factious magistrates, and were always greedily re-
ceived by the people. Cicero is speaking to the people ;
he had lately been made consul by their interest, and his
first attempt is to make them reject this law. The subject
was extremely delicate and required much art. He begins
with acknowledging all the favors which he has received
from the people, in preference to the nobility. He pro-
fesses himself the creature of their power, and of all men
the most engaged to promote their interest. He declares
that he held himself to be consul of the people, and that
he would always glory in preserving the character of a
popular magistrate. But to be popular, he observes, is an
ambiguous word. He understood it to import a steady at-
tachment to the real interest of the people, to their liberty,
their ease, and their peace ; but by some, he says, it was
abused, and made a cover to their own selfish and am-
bitious designs. In this manner he begins to draw gradu-
ally nearer to his purpose of attacking the proposal of
Rullus, but still with great management and reserve. He
protests that he is far from being an enemy to agrarian
laws ; he gives the highest praise to the Gracchi, those
zealous patrons of the people, and assures them that when
The Introduction. 129
he first heard of Rullus' law he had resolved to support it,
if he found it for their interest ; but that, upon examining
it, he found it calculated to establish a dominion that was
inconsistent with liberty, and to aggrandize a few men at
the expense of the public; and then terminates his exordium
with telling them that he is going to give his reasons for
being of this opinion, but that, if his reasons shall not
satisfy them, he will give up his own opinion and embrace
theirs. In all this there was great art. His eloquence pro-
duced the desired effect, and the people with one voice re-
jected the agrarian law."
197. But perhaps the finest masterpiece of insinuation is
the supposed speech of Mark Antony over the dead body
of Caesar, as given in Shakspeare's " Caesar," act iii. sc. 2.
When no advantage is to be obtained by an introduction,
none need be used, but the orator may rush " in medias
res" as is frequently done in deliberative assemblies.
Thus Lord Mansfield, On Taxing America, begins thus :
" My Lord, I shall speak to the question strictly as a matter
of right."
198. For the Introduction, whatever its kind, rhetori-
cians lay down some excellent rules.
The first rule is, that the Introduction should be eagy_
and natural. The subject must always suggest it. It must
appear, as Qicero beautifully expresses it, " efflazMisse~£em~
tus e re de qua agitur " — " to have sprung from the matter
under consideration as naturally as a flower springs from
the stem." In order to render introductions natural and
easy, it will be well to follow the practice of Cicero.
" When I have planned and digested all the materials of my
discourse," he says, " it is my custom to think in the last
place of the introduction with which I am to begin."
A secaad-^ule for Introductions is that cairectaess should
be carefully studied in the expression. The hearers are
130 Development of Thought.
not as yet occupied with the subject and the arguments ;
their attention is wholly directed to the speaker's style and
manner. Still, for the same reason, too apparent art is to
be avoided. Ut videamur, says Quintilian, accurate, non
callide__diiere — " That we may appear to speak wTtfTcare,
not with craft."
" In the third place" says Blair, "modegtjr_is another cha-
racter whicnttr-mjist carry. All appearances of modesty are
favorable and prepossessing. If the orator set out with an
air of arrogance and ostentation, the self-love and pride of
the hearers will be presently awakened, and will follow him
with a very suspicious eye throughout all his progress. His
modesty should discover itself not only in his expressions
at the beginning, but in his whole manner ; in his looks, in
his gestures, in the tone of his voice. Every auditory take
in good part those marks of respect and awe which are
paid to them by one who addresses them. Indeed, the
modesty of an introduction should never betray anything
mean or abject. It is always of great use to an orator that,
together with modesty and deference to his hearers, he
should show a certain sense ofjUgaity, arising from a per-
suasion of the justice or importance of the subject on which
he is to speak. . . There are cases in which it is allow-
able for him to set out from the first in a high and bold
tone ; as, for instance, when he rises to defend some cause
which has been much run down and decried by the pub-
lic."
Fourthly, The Introduction should usually be carried on
in a Cj^ni_manner ; the exception of the exordium ex ab-
rupto has already been explained.
Fifthly, It is a rule in Introductions not jto anticipate any
material part of the subject, lest important arguments lose
the charm of novelty.
Sixthly, The Introduction ought to be propojtwmtte,
The Introduction. 131
both in length and in kind, to the discourse which is to fol-
low, since good taste requires among the parts of any com-
position a certain proportion both in length and spirit.
199. In thejiasej)f repliea— Quintilian makes an observa-
tion which is worth inserting here. He says : " An intro-
duction which is founded upon the pleading of the opposite
party is extremely graceful, for this reason : that it appears
not to have been meditated at home, but to have naturally
arisen from the discussion and to have been composed on
the spot. Hence it gives to the speaker the reputation
of a quick invention, and adds weight likewise to his dis-
course as artless and unlabored, insomuch that, though all
the rest of his oration should be studied and written, yet
the discourse appears to be extempore."
CHAPTER II.
NARRATION AND EXPLANATION
200. Narration _ properly regards facts which should suc-
ceed each other/ Explanation regards a situation, a doc-
trine, a view of what exists simultaneously. Both are
treated as separate parts of speeches when they are made
the foundation of subsequent reasoning. Thus the lawyer
narrates the facts of his case before he begins to reason on
them ; the preacher explains a doctrine before he proves it
or applies it to his hearers.
20 1. As the Narration or Explanation is to be the foun-
dation of subsequent reasoning, this fact, whilst revealing
its importance, also determines the rules that should direct
it ; for everything is to be adapted to the end intended.
Hence we have the following rules: "To be clear and dis-
tinct" says Blair, "to be probable and to be concise, are
the qualities which critics chiefly require in narration :
each of which carries sufficiently the evidence of its im-
portance. Distinctness belongs to the whole train of the
discourse, but is especially requisite in narration, which
ought to throw light on all that follows. A fact or a single
circumstance left in obscurity, and misapprehended by the
judge, may destroy the effect of all the argument and
reasoning which the speaker employs. If his narration be
not probable the judge will not regard it, and if it be
tedious and diffuse he will be tired of it and forget it. In
order to procure distinctness, besides the study of the
general rules of perspicuity which were formerly given,
narration requires a particular attention to ascertain clearly
Narration and Explanation. 133
the names, the dates, the places, and every other material
circumstance of the facts recounted. In order to be -pre- —
bablein narration, it is material to enter into the characters
of the persons of whom we speak, and to show that their
actions proceeded from such motives as are natural and
likely to gain belief. In order to be as concise as the
subject will admit, it is necessary to throw out all super-
fluous circumstances, the rejection of which will likewise
tend to make our narration more forcible and more clear."
202. To the three qualities just mentioned we may add
two others, elegance and truthfulness. Of elegance the judi-
cious Father Kleutgen remarks (Ars Dicendi, n. 379) :
" That the narration may gain credit by conciliating and
moving the heart, it should be embellished with all possible
charms ; this rule will be modified by the subject. In un-
important matters, as private pleadings generally are, let
the style be concise. Let there be great care in the
choice of words, that they be expressive and attuned to the
sense, a concealed but charming melody ; the figures not
poetically bold, but varied enough to keep interest alive.
For explanation is of itself destitute of all charms, and
unless it commend itself by such beauty it will necessarily
appear tame and dry. Nor is the hearer ever more atten-
tive ; and, therefore, nothing that is well expressed is lost.
Besides, some way or other, we believe more readily what
is pleasing to the ear, and pleasure obtains credit."
" But when the matter is more important it will be
proper to expose crime with indignation, and suffering in
strains of pity, not so as to exhaust these passions, but so
as to give the hearers a taste of them, that the main tone of
the future speech may at once be understood."
203. That truthjfjjlBe8S'~is required of an honest man on
all occasions is a general principle from which no depar-
ture is ever allowed. But what if a lawyer defends a cul-
134 Development of Thought.
prit whom he knows to be guilty ? Is he to proclaim the
full truth ? No, indeed : the culprit's crime is his own
secret, which, for the common good, the law respects until
the guilt is proved ; and his lawyer is sacredly bound by
the duties of his office to protect that secret. When the
orator asserts his client's innocence he tells no lie ; for his
words mean, in the acceptation of men, that the client is
innocent before the court, or not legally guilty — that, as the
Scotch express it, the crime is not proven. But this does
not entitle the lawyer to state what is positively and un-
equivocally false. His skill will consist in presenting all
the facts favorable to him in a clear light, while he throws
doubt and an air of indistinctness on the facts alleged
against him, and treats all that is not proven as not having
happened.
204. A beautiful mgjlel of this s4dlful--managom-e«t is
found in the narration of Cicero's speech for Milo ; every
circumstance making it unlikely that Milo waylaid Clodius
is distinctly pointed out, while the affray itself is made con-
fused enough, with little light thrown except on the palli-
ating circumstances. He says : " Milo, after staying in the
senate that day till the senate adjourned, went home. He
changed his shoes and dress ; he waited a little, while his
wife was getting ready ; then he started at a time when
Clodius, if he was to come to Rome at all that day, could
already have returned. He is met by Clodius unencum-
bered, on horseback, without carriage or baggage, without
the Greek companions he was wont to have, without his
wife — a rare exception — while this waylayer, who, they pre-
tended had planned that journey to commit the murder,
was riding with his wife in a carriage, wrapped up in his
cloak, attended by a large promiscuous crowd, with a nu-
merous suite of women and delicate boys and girls. He
meets Clodius before the latter's farm an hour before sun-
Narration and Explanation. 135
down or thereabouts. At once a numerous armed band
rush on him from a higher ground ; those in front slay his
driver ; but by the time Milo had thrown off his cloak
and jumped from the carriage, and while he was vigorously
defending himself, the attendants of Clodius, with drawn
swords, ran back to the carriage to attack Milo in the rear,
while some, because they thought him already killed, began
to slay his slaves who were behind. Of these some, faithful
to their master, and preserving their presence of mind, fell
in the action ; others, seeing the contest around the car-
riage, and unable to help their master, and hearing from
Clodius' own lips that Milo was slain, and believing it to be
true, did — I will say it not to exculpate him, but as it hap-
pened— the slaves of Milo did, without the orders, or know-
ledge, or presence of their master, what every man would
have wished his own slaves to do under the circumstances.''
205. Another admirable specimen of Narration at the
bar is found in Webster's Speech in Knapp's Trial, giving
the facts of the murder of Mr. White ; it is, as the occasion
required, more ornate and pathetic than Cicero's.
206. The Narration may be omitted if the judge or the
audience not only know the facts, but also view them as
the speaker desires ; and, in general, when no probable ad-
vantage will result from its insertion.
207. The Narration is sometimes divided into parts;
such a division is useful :
1. When the whole truth told at once would offend ;
2. When the opponent's narration must be refuted point
by point ;
3. When the matter is too intricate; it may then be ex-
plained by portions. Thus Webster relates separately : (a)
the murder of White ; (l>) all that proves the existence of a
conspiracy ; (c) the circumstantial evidence of Knapp's
concurrence as a principal in the murder. Demosthenes
136 Development of Thought.
also, in his speech on the Crown, has made several distinct
narrations, the ground-work of separate reasonings. Al-
most all the rules and remarks which apply to Narration
are also suited to Explanation, on which, therefore, we need
not comment any further.
CHAPTER III.
PROPOSITION AND DIVISION.
208. After the Introduction and the Narration or Ex-
planation it is natural and usual for the speaker to state
briefly his Propasitijffi — i.e., what he undertakes to prove
or advocate. This statement is generally useful and often
necessary. It should be made whenever the hearers do not
already know what we are going to maintain, unless there
is danger of arousing their prejudices ; in this latter case
the Proposition may either be deferred till near the end of
the speech or be omitted altogether. Thus, in his first
Catilinian speech, Cicero defers his proposition, which we
take to be this : " The consul commands a public enemy
to leave the city. Into exile ? I do not command it ; but
if you consult me, I advise it." In the fourth Catilinian
the orator lays down no proposition, as he wishes to shirk
the responsibility of condemning the conspirators to death.
209. When made, the statement of the Proposition should
be brief and clear; it may also be repeated in various terms
to impress it on the minds of the hearers. Ornaments of
style in expressing it are only proper when they can lead
to no ambiguity. Even when not expresslyjstated the
Proposition must be clearlyand_distinctly conceived by
the orator in bis own mind, because it contains the proxi-
mate end of the whole speech, it is the magnetic needle
which is to guide him, the target which he is to hit.
But this rule, though most important, is too clear to need
further explanation.
210. The Diyisiojuor-Partition, viewed as a part of the
138 Development of Thought.
speech, is the statement of the principal heads of our plan.
This statement should be brief and pointed ; for, if there be
any use in making it at all, it should be so worded as to
be easily understood and remembered by the audience.
Whether the division should be stated or not, will depend
on many considerations, and not a little on the taste of
the orator and the audience. In general we may say that
in argumentative and explanatory speeches, in which the
understanding is addressed rather than the heart, the clear
statement of the division is very useful, for the hearers
are thus enabled to follow and remember more easily our
line of thought.
211. There is also considerable beauty and stateliness in
a clear Division distinctly laid_down and faithfully carried
out, aifappears in the Oration on the Manihan Law. This
is, perhaps, the most regular oration in any language, and
as such it is well worth the study of learners ; not that
they are expected to attain such regularity in all their
speeches, but that they may discipline their minds and be
able to write a regular oration when the occasion require.
212. The Division should not be stated: 1. When its
statement would displease ; e.g., by appearing to announce
a rather long speech.
2. When some parts seem useless at first, as happens
in the oration for Milo.
3. When the statement would interfere with an oratori-
cal suspense or other artifice.
213. The question whether in sermons the Division
should usually be expressed or omitted is carefully dis-
cussed by Blair (Lect. xxxi.) and by Adams (Lect. xix.)
Both are in favor of retaining the statement of the Divi-
sion, while F^nelon would omit it. Blair gives these rea-
sons : 1. It is an established practice ; 2. It arouses atten-
tion ; 3. It aids the hearer to understand and remember ;
Proposition and Division. 139
4. It relieves the fatigue of the hearer, as the milestone
does that of the traveller. " The appearance of premedita-
tion it certainly has," says Adams ; " but, without premedi-
tation, to deliver a speech upon a long and complicated
argument is not within the compass of human powers."
214. But when the Division is not expressed it must,
as we have remarked of the Proposition, be clearly con-
ceived by the speaker and carefully remembered.
We may add in this place the following suggestions to
find a good division :
1. A Complex Proposition contains a Division ready
made in one of four ways : 1. Different independent as-
sertions are made on the same subject ; e.g., Washington
was a hero and a patriot.
2. A general proposition is united with a special one ;
e.g., Engage in the war, and do so vigorously.
3. A theoretical truth, with its practical application ; e.g.,
We have immortal souls and we should save them.
4. A course of action proposed, with the means recom-
mended, to which is often added the urgency of prompt
measures ; e.g., Assist the Olynthians, by the means which I
will point out, and do so at once.
II. A Simple Proposition may be proved by arguments
classed according to the topics which suggest them :
1. The same topic may suggest different heads ; e.g., the
definition : the false views, the true view of the subject.
2. Each topic may furnish a point ; e.g., that the French
Revolution of 1790 was an anti-religious movement may
be proved from its causes and from its effects.
3. The extrinsic topics may furnish one part and the in-
trinsic another ; e.g., we prove the existence of future re-
wards and punishments from authority and from reason.
4. Various moral topics afford a classification ; e.g., it is
just, necessary, and glorious to defend the oppressed.
140 Development of Thought.
III. Divisions are often suggested by the nature of the
cause or by various circumstances; e.g., at the bar each
charge may require a separate point to answer it. Thus
Cicero for Murena : " I understand that there were three
parts to the accusation," etc. He divides his speech ac-
cordingly into three parts.
215. Whatever Division is chosen, these rules must be
observed — viz. (Blair, xxxi ) : 1. The parts should be really
distinct, one not including another. Lord Hervey sings :
" Of Sapphic, lyric, and iambic odes " ; but Pope reminds
him that lyric include Sapphic and iambic.
2. The Division should be obvious, not forced: "We
must divide the subject into those parts into which it is
most easily and naturally resolved, that it may seem to
split itself, not to be violently torn asunder " — Divider e,
non frangere.
3. The several members must exhaust the subject — i.e.,
must exhibit the whole plan.
4. The terms in which our partitions are expressed
should be as concise as possible.
5. Avoid any useless multiplication of heads — never
more than five, says Adams. " Subdivision," he adds,
" may sometimes be graceful, but in general it will pro-
duce its effect better by being concealed than disclosed."
216. Of Divisions these examples are much admired by
French critics : Massillon, on the words of Christ, consum-
matum est — " it is consummated " — says : " This imports the
consummation (a) of justice on the part of God, (6) of
wickedness on the part of men, (e) of love on the part of
Christ."
Bourdaloue, on the words, My peace I give unto you, says :
" Peace (a) to the understanding by submission to faith,
(b) to the heart by submission to the law."
CHAPTER IV.
ARGUMENTATION— REFUTATION— PATHOS.
217. These three parts are classed together in one chap-
ter because they usually occur blended with each other ;
for objections are to be refuted where they occur to the
minds of the hearers, and pathos is often blended with
reasoning and refutation. These three combined form
the main body of the speech ; the other parts are ap-
pendages more or less useful. These three are intended
to enforce the proposition so as to obtain the end intended
in the oration.
Now, this end is threefold : tQfilease, to instruct or con-
vince, and to persuade. These special ends are usually
more or less combined in a speech, though one of them is
likely to predominate, and sometimes one alone is aimed
at. Pleasure is chiefly intended in public lectures, in
speeches -at annual commencements, Fourth of July ora-
tions, panegyrics, etc. Conviction affects the under-
standing, and is predominant at the bar and in dogmatic
and controversial lectures. Persuasion affects the heart
and the will ; it prevails in speeches before popular as-
semblies and legislative bodies, in moral sermons. It in-
cludes conviction ; for it is chiefly through the mind that
the heart is reached. We shall now consider the chief
ways by which we are to convince, to please, and to per-
suade our hearers.
Article I. Ways to Produce Conviction.
218. The chief ways to produce conviction are Expose
t.ion, Reasoning, and Refutation.
142 Development of Thought.
§ 1. Exposition.
Exposition, or Explanation, is of the highest importance
in oratory, and is often sufficient by itself to produce con-
viction, and even persuasion. An adversary often opposes
us, or auditors often remain indifferent, simply because
they do not understand the case : explain it well, and
we have gained our point.
Many great speakers use explanations copiously ; others
have a predilection for reasoning, according to the bent of
their genius. Thus__Cicero explains more copiously than
Demosthenes ; the latter reasons more. We may select as
examples of Exposition the four Catilinian speeches of
Cicero.
In the first, Cicero in the senate exposes, or lays bare,
the facts of the conspiracy ; but he introduces frequent
reasoning to defend his own conduct.
In the second, he exposes the conspiracy before the people
in the forum.
In the third, also spoken in the forum, he explains the
arrest of the conspirators.
In the fourth, he explains, in the senate, the two conflict-
ing opinions concerning the punishment to be inflicted.
This speech is like the summing-up of a judge in an ad-
dress to the jury — calm and clear. In the last three of
these speeches we have scarcely anything but Exposition.
219. Edmund Burke's cast of mind led him to use
Exposition very copiously. " He has left us, indeed,"
says C. A. Goodrich {Brit. Eloq., p. 240), "some beauti-
ful specimens of dialectical ability ; but his arguments, in
most instances, consisted of the amplest enumeration and
the clearest display of all the facts and principles, the
analogies, relations, or tendencies, which were applicable
to the case, and were adapted to settle it on the immutable
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 43
basis of the nature and constitution of things. Here again
he appeared of necessity more as a teacher than a logician,
and hence many were led to underrate his argumentative
powers." His explanation of the resources and circum-
stances of the colonies in his Oration on Conciliation
with America is a good instance in point. Of William Pitt,
on the other hand, Macaulay remarks that he did not suc-
ceed in Exposition.
220. Cardinal Newman in this respect appears to us to
bear a close resemblance to Edmund Burke. Besides the
natural bent of his genius, he has been led to adopt this
manner by his position as one of the leading champions of
a religion which is still very unpopular in England. Feeling
sincerely convinced that the hostility of his countrymen to
Catholicity is the effect of rooted prejudices and of a
misunderstanding of its doctrines, its history, and its prac-
tices, he has incessantly labored, in his speeches and his
writings, to explain and expose a multitude of matters,
doctrinal and historical, so that his literary productions, so
varied and so deservedly esteemed by all parties, abound
in Exposition. To point out but one example in a thou-
sand, we may refer to the first of his Discourses to Mixed
Congregations, and select the passage descriptive of a man
who has discarded his religion (pages 8 to n).
221. In the United States the late eloquent lecturer,
Father Smarius, S.J., had for a similar reason adopted the
same method, and a collection of his principal lectures,
styled Points of Controversy, contains many eloquent ex-
positions— e.g., the first half of the first lecture, also a
rapid sketch of the variations of Protestantism (pages
82-92) and of the unity of the Catholic Church (pages
187-201).
222. A still more recent orator, the Dominican Father
T, N, Burke, abounds in powerful Exposition, For in-
144 Development of Thought.
stance, in his oration on " The Liberator " he gives a long
and graphic account of the state of Ireland anterior to the
agitation of O'Connell, and of the manner in which the
Catholic Emancipation was obtained (vol. ii. p. 201, etc.)
223. We shall conclude our remarks on Exposition with
an extract from Wm, Wirt's Speech in the Trial of Aaron
Burr, showing the innocence of Blennerhasset : " Who is
Blennerhasset ? A native of Ireland, a man of letters,
who fled from the storms of his own country to find quiet
in ours. On his arrival in America he retired even from
the population of the United States, and sought quiet and
solitude in the bosom of our Western forests. But he
brought with him taste, and science, and wealth ; and ' lo !
the desert smiled.' Possessing himself of a beautiful isl-
and in the Ohio, he rears upon it a palace, and decorates
it with every romantic embellishment of fancy. A shrub-
bery that Shenstone might have envied blooms around him.
Music that might have charmed Calypso and her nymphs
is his. An extensive library spreads its treasures before
him," etc., etc. (Amer. Eloq., ii. p. 467).
§ 2. Reasoning.
224, By reasoning we mean that process of the mind by
whicfiPone proposition is deduced from the admitted truth
of another. ; Formal reasoning is the most ordinary, and
usually the most effective, means to produce conviction.
Its requisites are : 1. That the principles or starting-
points be such as our opponents or our hearers will ad-
mit ; 2. That the inference be clearly and logically drawn.
In oratory it is not enough that the reasoning can be un-
derstood by attentive and intelligent hearers ; it must be so
presented that no one can avoid understanding it. Although
such a degree of clearness is necessary in every part of a
speech, it is especially proper to call attention to it here.
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 45
as reasoning is harder to follow than anything else. We
shall mention the common forms which reasoning usually
assumes ; the full explanation of them belongs to logic.
(See Hill's Elements of Philosophy : Logic, p. i. c. iii.)
225. While the arguments explained in logic are funda-
mentally the same as those employed in rhetoric, the sjyle
in which they are presented is considerably different.
Logic cares little for ornament ; rhetoric is fond of cloth-
ing itself to the best advantage. " The ornaments and
graces in which oratory studiously attires the muscular
form of logic are indulgences to human infirmity," says
Adams (Lect. xxi.) They are the honey in which the
wholesome draught of instruction must be mingled to make
it palatable.
226. 1. The Syllogism^ is a form of reasoning consisting
of three propositions so connected that from two, which
are granted, the third one follows. The two granted are
called the Premises, the third is the Cqtul&sieiT:' Of the
premises, the more general is called the major, the more
particular the minor. The force of this argument lies in
the fact that the major, which is granted, implicitly affirms
the conclusion ; while the minor explicitly declares this re-
lation between those two propositions.
" Whoever is first in place ought to be first in valor ;
" We are the first in place ;
" Therefore we ought to be first in valor."
Here is the same argument arrayed in poetical splen-
Jor :
" Why boast we, Glaucus, our extended reign,
Where Xanthu's' streams enrich the Lycian plain,
Our numerous herds that range the fruitful field,
And hills where vines their purple harvest yield,
Our foaming bowls with purer nectar crowned,
Our feasts enhanced with music's sprightly sound ?
146 Development of Thought.
Why on those shores are we with joy surveyed,
Admired as heroes, and as gods obeyed,
Unless great acts superior merit prove,
And vindicate the bounteous powers above ?
'Tis ours the dignity they give to grace ;
The first in valor, as the first in place."
— Pope's Iliad, b. 12.
227. 2. The EpipMr£matt_£alled the oratorical syllogism, is
a syllogism to which is added the proof of the major or of
the minor, or of both ; e.g., " To prove Roscius guilty of
parricide you must prove him most depraved, for this
crime supposes all depravity ; but you can show in him
no depravity whatever," etc. (Cicero). Others call an Epi-
chirema a reasoning condensed into one sentence, thus :
" Can you call Roscius a parricide when you cannot de-
tect in him any other crime?" ,,._<, L
228. 3. TheEnthymeme is an abridged syllogism, or a
syllogism in which one of the premises is not expressed,
but understood ; it is very common in oratory, far more so
than the regular syllogism. Thus Cicero says : " Whoever,
impelled by no private resentments, stimulated by no
personal injurv, instigated by no expectation of reward,
undertakes to impeach another before the public tribunals
as a criminal of state, ought to weigh well beforehand not
only the importance of the immediate task which he as-
sumes, but also the rule of morality by which he volun-
tarily binds himself for the conduct of his own future life.
He who calls to account another man, especially under the
profession of having no other motive than the general wel-
fare, imposes upon himself the perpetual obligation of in-
nocence, of purity, of every social virtue." This, with
much further development, is the major, from which, omit-
ting the minor, " but I am accusing Verres," Cicero draws
the following conclusion : " Thus, by undertaking this im-
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 47
peachment, I have prescribed for myself a rule of conduct
as directly opposite as possible not only to the deeds and
words, but even to those proud looks and that insolent
deportment which you have all observed in him."
, 229. 4. The_Bilfimma is an argument which presents the
/adversary with two or more alternatives, and defeats him
with any he may choose. yVm. Pitt reasons thus in favor
_T^abT5its1rm^-tfe«r^Tav'e-trade : " Do the slaves diminish in
numbers ? It can be nothing but ill-treatment that causes
the diminution. This ill-treatment the abolition must and
will restrain. In this case, therefore, we ought to vote for
the abolition. On the other hand, do you choose to say
that the slaves clearly increase in numbers ? Then you
want no importations, and in this case also you may safely
vote for the abolition. Or if you choose to say, as the
third and only other case that can be put, and which per-
haps is the nearest to the truth, that the population is nearly
stationary and the treatment neither so bad nor so good as
it might be, then surely, sir, it will not be denied that this, of
all others, is, on each of the two grounds, the proper period
for stopping farther supplies," etc. {Brit. Eloq., p. 582).
__2£©r 5r~The Sorites-is an abridged form of a series of
syllogisms ; it is a series of propositions so connected that
the predicate of the first point becomes the subject of the
Second, the predicate of the second becomes the subject of
the third, etc., till in the last proposition the predicate of
/the preceding is assigned to the subject of the first propo-
sition.! You have a playful example of it in the wise rea-
-soir-Wnich some precocious scientist in ancient times put
in the head of a fox : " Whatever makes a noise moves ;
what moves is not frozen hard ; that which is not frozen
hard is liquid ; liquid will bend under weight ; therefore
if, on trying to cross the ice, I hear the sound of the water
beneath, it is not frozen and it will not support me."
148 Development of Thought.
231. 6. Analogy, or Example, is an argument which
makes the hearers admit a point on account of its similarity
to other points which are granted ;/e.g., " A ship is good,
not if nicely-pain4edy^trrif-sa#e--and fast ; a sword is good,
not if set with jewels, but if sharp and strong ; so a man is
good, not if fair of aspect, but if he lives for that for which
he was created." That this argument may be convincing,
the examples quoted must be evidently true and bear a
clear resemblance to the case in point. We have admira-
ble examples of this argument in many of the teachings of
our Blessed Saviour ; e.g., " Behold the birds of the air,
for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into
barns ; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you
not of much more value than they ? . . . Consider the lilies
of the field, how they grow," etc. (St. Matt. vi. 26, etc.)
Analogy and Examples are not exactly synonymous. In
the latter we argue from the similarity of two things ; in
the former from the similarity of their relations.
232. 7. " Induction is an argument in which we conclude
that because some property or law is true of each indi-
vidual of a class, or at least of a sufficiently large number^
of individuals, it is a property or law of the whole class/!
It is the great lever of the natural sciences, resting on the
assumed fulcrum of the uniformity of nature's laws, and is
valid as far as this uniformity is real. Rhetoric applies in-
duction rather to the moral order — i.e., to actions depend-
ent on the free-will of man ; hence it is more liable to err.
Still, within due limits, it is perfectly reliable '; e.g., wit-
nesses, under certain conditions, afford infallible certainty.
233. To the arguments so far explained we may add the
Argumentum ad hominem. " This," says the Art of Ex-
tempore Speaking, " is an enthymeme which overturns an
adversary's arguments by his own facts-and words. 7 Tubero
brought an accusation against Ligarius that he Bad fought
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 49
against Caesar in Africa. Cicero defended Ligarius, and
turned the charge against his accuser : ' But, I ask, who
says that it was a crime in Ligarius to have been in Africa ?
It is a man who himself wanted to be there ; a man who
complains that Ligarius prevented him from going, and one
who has assuredly borne arms against Caesar. For, Tu-
bero, what was that naked sword doing in your hands at
the battle of Pharsalia ? Whose breast was its point seek-
ing ? What was the meaning of those arms of yours ?
Whither looked your purpose ? your eyes ? your hand ?
your fiery courage ? What were you craving ? For what
were you wishing ? ' This was the passage which so moved
Caesar that the act of condemnation of Ligarius dropped
from his trembling hand, and he pardoned him " (p. 310).
§ 3. Refutation.
234. " It has been remarked," says J. Q. Adams (Lect.
xxii.), " that very moderate abilities are sufficient to qualify
an accuser, but that eminence in defensive practice could
be attained only by the brightest endowments of eloquence ;
and Quintilian gives it as his deliberate opinion that accu-
sation is as much easier than defence as it is easier to in-
flict than to heal a wound."
" Refutation is equally used by both parties to a suit at
law ; by all who take a part in public deliberations ; and
even by the demonstrative and pulpit orators, although
they have no antagonist immediately before them. . . .
Confutation is not limited to what the antagonist has ac-
tually said. It must often be extended to what he will say,
and even to what he may say. ... A panegyrical orator
may often be called in the discharge of his duties to defend
the character of his hero against prevailing prejudices."
235. After giving us these views of the difficulties and
the general usefulness of refutation, Adams cautions us
150 Development of Thought.
against three chief errors often committed in this important
task. " The first," he says, " may be termed answering_Jpo
much ; the second, answering_togJittie j the third, answering
yourself and not your opponent.'!.
As- to the first error — answsiillg_t©*-mt[Bh — h e remarks :
" If you contend against a diffuse speaker who has wasted
hour after hour in a lingering lapse of words which had
little or no bearing upon the proper question between you,
it is incumbent upon you to discriminate between that part
of his discourse which was pertinent and that which was
superfluous. Nor is it less necessary to detect the artifice
of an adversary who purposely mingles a flood of extra-
neous matter with the controversy for the sake of disguis-
ing the weakness of his cause. . . . This species of manage-
ment is not easily discovered, though it is one of the most
ordinary resources of sophistry. One of the surest tests by
which you can distinguish it from the dropsical expansion
of debility is by its livid spots of malignity. It flies from
the thing to the person. It applies rather to your passions
than to those of your audience. Knowing that anger is
rash and undiscerning, it stings you, that it may take off
your feelings, your reason, and your active powers from
the part you are defending to your own person." In the
letters of Junius there are two remarkable examples of this
disingenuous artifice — viz., in the controversies with Sir
Wm. Draper and Mr. Home. The study of these examples,
both in those letters and in the comments of Mr. Adams, is
as interesting as it is useful.
236. "To avoid the second fault — answering tooUtil
it is as essential to ascertain which are the 'Strong points of
your adversary's argument as it is to escape the opposite
error of excess. ... If we substitute petulance or scorn
for logic the verdict of the jury or the sentence of the
court will soon correct our misapprehension. It is in de-
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 5 1
liberative assemblies, when party spirit has acquired an
overruling ascendency, that this species of perverseness
most frequently makes its appearance."
237. " But the most inexcusable of all the errors in con-
futation is that of answering^jfluffleif" instead of your ad-
versary, which is done whenever you suppress, or mutilate,
or obscure, or misstate his reasoning, and then reply, not
to his positions, but to those which you have substituted in
their stead."
Unfairness is ever unworthy of an honorable man ; be-
sides, here, as everywhere, honesty is the best policy. Still,
we need not state an objection with the same strength as
the adversary would state it. For we should not strengthen
a falsehood : even in our very statement of an objection we
may exhibit its weakness or unsoundness, which was skil-
fully hidden by our opponent.
238. As to the order of objections we may suggest the
following directions : 1. Those objections should be first
attacked which appear to make the most impression on our
hearers ; 2. Those refutations should precede which facili-
tate those following ; 3. When we cannot refute the strong-
est objections triumphantly, we may begin with some weak-
er ones, so as to lessen the credit of our opponent ; 4. When
we promise to answer a certain objection later on, we should
give a good reason for the delay ; 5. If we can take up the
refutation in the same order as the objections were pro-
posed by our adversary, we thereby gain in clearness and
earn the confidence of the audience. But we may have
stronger reasons to prefer another order. Demosthenes,
challenged by ^Eschines to refute point by point, plainly
refuses to do so, claiming his right to follow his own ar-
rangement.
239. There are three chief ways of refating^-viz., by de-
nying, by distinguishing, and hy~retorttng]ea.c\\ of which we
152 Development of Thought.
shall briefly explain. I. We may deny either a statement
or a conclusion drawn from it. "TT'We can deny a statement
of an opponent, for we are not usually obliged to believe
him on his word. If we can disprove some capital asser-
tion of an opponent, and scatter all his declamation by a
clear citation, we gain a telling advantage. Junius writes to
Sir W. Draper : " I wish that you would pay a greater at-
tention to the truth of your premises before you suffer
your genius to hurry you to a conclusion. Lord Ligonier
did not deliver the army (which you, in your classical lan-
guage, are pleased to call a Palladium) into Lord Granby's
hands. It was taken from him, much against his inclina-
tion, some two or three years before." We need not charge
our opponent with wilful falsehood, but in a gentlemanly
way we may deny his facts. Even when we do not choose
to deny his assertion we may often require a proof and in-
sist on the principle : Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur —
" An assertion unsupported by proof goes for nothing," or
" The burden of proof lies on the accuser.'' We need not
prove a denial ; it is enough to assign some plausible rea-
son for denying, and it is reason enough that our opponent
has given no proof. 2. We may deny a consequence — i.e., we
may grant the statement or allow it to pass, but deny that
it proves anything against us. Thus when Cicero charged
Verres with having stolen certain articles, and Verres
pleaded that he had bought them, Cicero answers by sup-
posing that he did buy them, and then shows that this plea
does not clear him, as a Roman governor was forbidden by
law to buy such articles while in office.
240. II. We distinguish when we grant what is true in
the objection and deny" what is false. There is usually
something true in an objection ; for men, when not entire-
ly blinded by passion, accept a false proposition only on
account of the fragmentary truth which it contains. By
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 153
drawing the line exactly and clearly between the truth and
the falsehood of the objection we are apt to please and
convince, conciliating all by granting whatever we can
reasonably grant. To deny completely what is only par-
tially false damages our cause. The distinction should be
expressed exactly, clearly, and strikingly.
We can recall no clearer specimen of an objection solved
by distinguishing than the following extract from F. Sma-
rius (Lect. i.) Objection : " There is good and evil in all
religions ; why should I be bound to connect myself with
any ? "
Answer : " If you mean to say that the principles of all
religions are partly true and partly false, you are mistaken ;
for then there would be no religion at all. Religion comes
from God, not from man ; and nothing false or evil can
come from God, who is the sovereign truth and good. If
you mean to say that even false religions have some prin-
ciples which are good, you are right in the assertion, but
wrong in the inference which you draw from it. A religion
made up of sheer errors without any basis of truth could
scarcely be conceived, much less exist in the world. But
it does not follow that a part of the truth is as good to you
as the whole, any more than that a quarter of a dollar is of
as much value to you as the whole, a maimed limb as good
as a sound, a sick body as serviceable as a healthy one, or a
little talent as valuable as prominent intellectual gifts or
genius. We need the truth in its integrity, not in frag-
ments only ; we need the full blaze, not a mere glimpse
or gleam. When God reveals he wishes to be believed
unreservedly. One word of his is as good as another, one
command as binding as another. ... If you wish to say
that in all religions there are bad as well as good men, you
must make a distinction. That there are good men in false
religions, in the sense that the false religion produces good
154 Development of Thought.
men, is not true, any more than a fig-tree bears grapes, or
the vine figs, or fresh water yields salt. Men are better
than their principles, only when they abandon bad for good
principles in practice. That there are bad men in the true
religion cannot be denied ; but they are bad despite, not
in virtue of, their religion," etc.
241. III. We retort an argument of an opponent when
we turn it against him. Thus Cicero convicts Verres by
turning his own defence into a charge : " To this I hold
fast, here I stop " (De Suppl, 64), " with this alone I have
enough ; I omit and dismiss all the rest — he must fall by
his own testimony. ' You did not know who he was ? you
suspected that he was a spy ? I ask not what suspicion
you entertained ; I accuse you on your own admission :
he said he was a Roman citizen." A Roman citizen
could not be lawfully crucified. Verres had no right to set
aside the plea of Roman citizenship till it was disproved.
242. There are many other ways of mee^mgobjections ;
e.g : 1. Not minding the objection, we may attack_the_ob-
jector, lessening his credit by showing his ignorance or
bacTTaith, as Demosthenes often treats his opponent, ^Es-
chines. Cicero reproaches Rullus with obscurity, Piso
with puerility, Anthony with ignorance of the subject, with
impropriety of expression, and with insipidity. O'Connell,
in his speech for Magee, made a vigorous onslaught on
Saurin, the attorney-general {Gramm. of Eloq., 428).
2. We may op$.as£_ strongerobjections.
3. We may make the objection — ridiculous or odious.
Ridicule, however, is a dangerous, two-edge3"weapoh,",but
often very efficient. Cicero uses it to great advantage in
his oration for Murena, good-naturedly ridiculing the ex-
travagance of the Stoic philosophers, and thus lessening the
authority of Cato and repelling his attacks as unwarranted.
4. We may use the reductio ad absurdum — i.e., point out
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 5 5
absurd consequences as following from our opponent's ar-
gument.
243. As specimens of vigorous refutations we may refer to
Grattan's Invective against Corry (Goodrich's Brit. Eloq.,
P- 397), Chatham's Reply to Walpole (ib. p. 81), Shiel's
Reply to Lord Lyndhurst (Speech on the Municipal Cor-
poration Bill).
244. We should not omit pointing out the fallacies—
which it is important for an orator to unmask in the argu-
ments of his opponent ; these are the principal : 1. lgn°-
ratio elenchi, or mistaking_the jjuestjfin. Prentiss, in his
argmneTTT^Betore the House of Representatives on the
Mississippi contested election — a speech which continued
for three days and won enthusiastic applause — makes his
exordium by guarding against an ignoratio elenchi : " The
first use I shall make of the privilege accorded to me
will be to set the House right as to the attitude of the ques-
tion ; for I perceive that many members labor under a mis-
apprehension on this point, and I am anxious that the
position I occupy in the matter should be distinctly under-
stood," etc. Webster, in his rejoinder to Hayne, on Foot's
Resolution, begins by calling for the reading of the resolu-
tion, and then shows that the real question was entirely
ignored by his opponent (see Amer. Eloq., ii. p. 370).
245. 2. Petitio principii, or begging the question in-
stead of proving 11 — viz., when in the apparent proof the
speaker takes that for granted which he ought to be prov-
ing. Thus some scientists, to prove that order may be the
result of unintelligent forces, argue that the order so con-
spicuous in all the Creation is the result of the blind forces
of nature ; they take for granted the very point denied
by common sense — that anything orderly can exist without
an intelligent ordain er.
246. The vicious circle differs from the petitio principii in
156 Development of Thought.
this : that the latter proves A by A, the circle proves A
by B and B by A.
247. 3. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc, or non causa pro
causa. This fallacy attributes a fact to a false cause, arguing
erroneously that because one thing happened after another,
therefore it was caused by the other. Thus the pagans
ascribed the calamities that befell the Roman Empire to
the rise of Christianity (vide St. Aug., De Civ. Dei, 1. i.)
248. 4. False analogy, defective induction, incomplete
enumeration, false assumption, ambiguity of terms, are so
many other fallacies, whose very names express their na-
ture sufficiently, and hence need no further explanation.
Article II. Ways to Please or Conciliate.
249. The pleasure whicnTKe^h«M^rs_-4eTrve from an
excellent oration results ^fronua-v4udety_of^ causes all har-
moniously blended together ; as the beauty of a garden, or
a painting, or a group of statuary does not consist in
one or two features only, but in the excellence of all the
details and the perfect proportion in which the whole is
combined. It is the same with all the works of art, and in
particular with the productions of eloquence. The beauty
of an oration, and consequently the pleasure which it is
able to impart, implies great perfection in all particulars —
felicity in the invention and choice of proofs ; a happy ar-
rangement or combination of the parts ; richness and clear-
ness of development ; elegant and appropriate expression —
so that not only conviction or persuasion is attained where
either of these is intended, but their success is accom-
plished with a certain gracefulness or splendor which can-
not but delight the audience. I Cicero writes {De Or., 3, 4) :
""Those two are easy parts which have just been explained,
propriety and clearness ; the others are great, intricate,
varied, weighty, in which originate all admiration for genius
A r gumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 5 7
and all the glory of eloquence. No one has ever admired
an orator because he spoke correct Latin ; if he did not
they would laugh at him. . . . What, then, sends a thrill of
pleasure through the hearers ? on what speaker do they
gaze with amazement * whom do they applaud ? whom do
they look upon as almost a god among men ? It is he
who speaks distinctly, elegantly, copiously, luminously in
thoughts and words, and who pours forth his oration with
a certain melody and poetic numbers."
250. Of all sources of pleasure there is probably not one
more agreeable to the audience than foattfy &IL style. B_u£_
of style we are to treat in its^ proper .place. Here we wish
to consider three other means of pleasing or conciliating
our hearers, which we may term respectively oratorical
ornaments, politeness, and oratorical precautious.
§ 1. Oratorical Ornaments.
251. By orator-ical ornaments we mean certain passages
introduced into a speech for the express purpose of pleas-
ing the hearers. \ Cicero jjjjfc-fchem -UlusiLHiiaafsi f°r which
our "English term Illustrations is not an exact equivalent.
Both words imply lightTnd beauty ;. but in the Latin term
it is 6eaut^_v/hich is made, prominent, and in the English it
is light. Of these Illustrationes, or oratorical ornaments,
rhetoricians usually enumerate seven — similitudes, exampies,
fables^Juirable's, aphorisms, digressions, and pleasantry. Of
most of these enough was said when we treated of the
topics. We shall here add a few remarks on Digressions
and Pleasantries, to which we shall add some suggestions
on Transitions.
252. By Digressions we sometimes mean such passages as[
deviate from the main subject or purpose of the speech td
gain some present advantage aimed at for its own sake. fT\^
this meaning Digressions are not ornaments ; they are ora-
158 Development of Thought.
torical licenses, rather tolerated on account of usefulness
than admired for their beauty./ ThuiTDemosthenes, while
speaking on other matters, often inveighs against the Mace-
donian party in Athens, letting pass no occasion of brand-
ing them with infamy.
But a Digression is an ornament when it departs from
the subject for the sake of pleasing the audience, with a
view to gain more readily the precise end intended in the
' whole oration. (Thus Cicero, on the Manilian Lawy-kayes
aside for a while the praise of Pompey to extol Lucullus, and
thus gain the suppprt of his adherents.--' These Digressions
often consist- in" elegant descriptions or word-painting^ and
their- -immediate effect is an increase of attention and a religfj
Vf the weariness of the audience. When the thoughts thus
introduced are as noble as the style, these are like the gems
adorning the golden chain of argument, adding little to its
solidity, no doubt, but much to its beauty. Such is the
praise of Liberty by Macaulay : " Ariosto tells a pretty story
of a fairy who, by some mysterious law of her nature, was
condemned to appear at certain seasons in the form of a
foul and poisonous snake. Those who injured her during
the period of her disguise were for ever excluded from par-
ticipation in the blessings which she bestowed. But to
those who, in spite of her loathsome aspect, pitied and pro-
tected her she afterwards revealed herself in the beautiful
and celestial form which was natural to her, accompanied
their steps, granted all their wishes, filled their houses with
wealth, made them happy in love and victorious in war.
Such a spirit is Liberty. At times she takes the form of a
hateful reptile. She grovels, she hisses, she stings. But
woe to those who in disgust shall venture to crush her !
And happy are those who, having dared to receive her in
her degraded and frightful state, shall at length be reward-
ed by her in the time of her beauty and glory,"
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 59
253. Pleasantries gain favor : (a) By putting the hearers
in good-humor ; A^K§y showing the speaker to advantage as
a man of quick wit ; N(<") By discomfiting an opponent, often
despatching with a laugh objections which it would be irk-
some to answer seriously. ,
Pleasantry may be of two kinds — witty sayings, or witti-
cisms, and ridicule ; the latter raises a laugh at the expense of
setae-person or thing. The matter of ridicule should be con-
fined to the minor faults or follies of men who are neither
specially beloved, nor unfortunate, nor highly criminal.
Great care should be taken not to wound those for whom
the blow was not intended ; else we might fare like the law-
yer who ridiculed the diminutive stature of his opponent,
not remembering that the judge was still more diminutive.
Besides, whoever ridicules others must be prepared to be
ridiculed ; the dart is often shot back, as it was to the archer
who had written on his arrow, " To the right eye of Philip."
Nor should an orator ever stoop to the buffoonery of a clown
in vulgar jests or postures ; he should show his modesty
by hinting rather than developing what is ridiculous.
254. A Transition is a sentence or two used to pass natu-
rally from one argument or part of speech to another. I " The
same natural aversion of mankirTd to abruptness at the com-
mencement or close of an oration, which has established the
custom of opening with an exordium and of ending with a
peroration, has erected these bridges over the various inlets
which intersect the different regions of the province."
'^Transitions, fully displayed, contribute to perspicuity, and '
Cicero employs them the most formally uporTtrTose~orations
where he was most solicitous to make his meaning clear and
his discourse memorable to all his hearers — in his first ora-
tion at the bar, that for Quinctius, and his__first_oration to
the_ people for the^[anilian Law '' (Adams, Lect. xxiii.
255. The transitions of a speech should be varied; some-
160 Development of Thought.
times they explicitly refer to both parts, which they unite ;
e.g., " Sir, the honorable gentleman having spoken what
he thought necessary upon the narrow part of the sub-
ject, I have given him, I hope, a satisfactory answer. He
next presses me, by a variety of direct challenges and ob-
lique reflections, to say something on the historical part. I
shall therefore, sir, open myself fully on that important and
delicate subject " (Edmund Burke on American Taxation).
Sometimes transitions refer to one point only ; e.g., " The
revenue act formed the fourth period of American policy "
(ib.) " I pass, therefore, to the colonies in another point of
view — their agriculture " (On Conciliation with America).
Variely_is- obtained by the use of various figures ; e.g., by
correction, pretention, objection, etc. We add a few exam-
ples : " Ah ! but Bonaparte has declared it as his opinion
that the two governments, France and England, cannot
exist together " (Fox). " Perhaps, however, my honorable
friends may take up another ground, and say," etc. (Pitt).
'' And what were the explanations they offered on these
different grounds of offence ? " (id.) .'" Since I have spoken
of the nature of the war, I will say a -few. words on its mag-
nitude " (Cicero). .
___-Ardarm-s-qi±etesj5|ith much admiration these poetical tran-
sitions from Milton :
" The angel ended, and in Adam's ear
So charming left his voice that he awhile
Thought him still speaking, still stood fixed to hear;
Then, as new waked, thus gracefully replied."
— Par. Lost, vii. I.
" As one who in his journey bates at noon,
Though bent on speed, so here the archangel paused
Betwixt the world destroyed and world restored,
If Adam aught perhaps might interpose;
Then, with transition sweet, new speech resumes."
— Ib. xii. I.
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 6 1
§ 2. Politeness.
256. Politeness on the part of the orator, besides remov-
ing whatever could prejudice or alienate the hearers, has 1
many positiifi_ad«Hrtages. It secures : 1. A polite atten-
tion ; 2. Respect for all the orator's just claims ; 3. Defe-
rence to his opinion in return for the deference he shows
to others ; 4. Docility, arising from a sense of his supe-
riority. For we all feel respect for a perfect gentlemajv
and we allow ourselves more easily to be convinced and
persuaded by one whom we have learned to esteem and
love.
257. In this accomplishment, as in most other matters,
Cicero is a distinguished model for imitation ; he some-
time^^eeTns~ainrosrTo~o"verdo it by showing what might ap-
pear excessive regard for the_jrpjnf1l'rp<:! "^ ^paknpsses of
his hearers. But, provided we commit no moral wrong, as
false~pra1se_or flattery would be, we are not apt to be misled
by imitating so great a master. In particular we may call
attention to several passages of his plea for Murena, §§ I.,
II., Ill, V., VI., X., XL, XII., XIII.
In his oration for Marcellus the first part resembles flat-
tery, and we wonder at first how so noble a character as
Cicero can stoop to such eulogy of Caesar, whom he had
opposed on principle ; but the second part abundantly
atones for this apparent fault by a polite but masterly re-
monstrance against all further prosecutions : he reads Cae-
sar a lesson which needed such an introduction. T — '
258. Politeness, or^gflod^ manners, implies a proper mix-
ture of respeet-fofself andjrespect for other§3 Cicero has
defined it : Scientia eanimj^rum_£ua_jige'nmr~^uii_^entur
suo loco collaca^dammJ^_,Ojf.^r^) — " The art of doing
and saying things seasonably." It regards all situations in
life, and it should guide the orator in all the departments
1 62 Development of Thought.
of his art. Caput artis est decere, quod ta?nen unum arte tradi
non potest (De Or., i. 29) — " The chief point of his art is
tact, and this one point art cannot teach."___ _-— - ---
259. Politeness contains two parts, one natural and one
conventional. The conventional part can be acquired by
all, and should be carefully studied as far as is expected
from each one's station in society. It is usually called Eti-
quette. Its application to oratory is limited : it requires
ftrairthe speaker should have regard for the reasonable cus-
toms prevailing in the place where he speaks, such espe-
cially as imply respect for his audience : for instance, to I
be properly introduced, if he is a stranger ; to address offi>~
cials by their proper titles, a promiscuous assembly in the
approved fashion of the place ; to observe in an organized
assembly the general rules of order or parliamentary law,
as laid down in Jefferson's Manual, Cushing's Manual, Rob-
erts' Rules of Order, etc.
260. The rmturaLpart consists in a certain tact by which
/a person sees or feels instinctively, as it were, what will con-
ciliate others, and what may in the least ruffle their feelings.
It is inborn, being a part of judgment, and exists in dif-
ferent persons in different degrees of perfection. It is very
capable of improvement, especially in early years.
261. Even in later years it may be much improved :
1. By the exercise of the sqcialjdriJies, chiefly of universal
kindness, which will at least prevent many offencesHpand
of modesty, which keeps a man in his proper place, avoid-
ing forwardness and sallies of ill-nature or of vanity. Cice-
ro's habit of self-gratulation would be insupportable in a
Christian who professes to act for higher motives than
mere earthly glory ; but even Cicero takes care, yhilp ^valt-
ing himself, never 'to.. humble hisjhearers. For, after all,
the secret of Fhe pleasure produced by politeness lies in the
respect shown for the feelings of those present ; the defe-
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 163
rence and modesty of a gentleman are a delicate compli-
ment to his audience.
262. 2. By attention to politejaaaiiCTB~aBd^address in
private life. The best rule is to avoid doing whatever we"^
notice to be offensive in the conduct of others : Fit enim,
nescio quomodo, ut magis in aliis cernamus, quam in nobismel
ipsis si quid delinquitur (De Off., i. 41) — "For, some way or
other, it happens that we notice mistakes in others more
than in ourselves." ^^~
263. 3. By observance of these precepts for public speak-
ing:
(a) Never overdo anything. Magis offendit nimium gufltn
parum ( Or. 22) — " Excess is more offensive than defect "
"^TpConsider what becomes your age, condition in life,
etc. Thus a priest should speak in the pulpit, a judge in
his chair sicutj^etiaiemjiizhcns — as one having power — but
never unkindly, overbearingly, or rudely. Nor should any
one assume such superiority as the hearers do not most
willingly concede to him ;
{c) Have a proper regard for the weaknesses, and even
for the prejudices, of your hearers ;
(d) See what suits the place and the time. \,
264. Many striking specimens of Christian politeness are
found in the Epistles of St. Paul. These are couched in
the language of fervent zeal, tempered by an admirable
modesty and charity ; he praises freely what is right, thus
making his reproofs more acceptable. We may refer in
particular to Philippians i. 1-19 ; 1 Corinthians i. 1-14 ;
2 Corinthians ii. 1-9.
Among the moderns the very mention of the word polite-
ness recalls to mind the accomplished and graceful Lord
Chesterfield, the skilful diplomatist, whose chief power, and
the source of no -unimportant service rendered to his coun-
try, lay in his exquisite politeness. Chesterfield's Letters to
164 Development of Thought.
his Son are unfortunately disfigured, as Goodrich remarks
{Brit. Eloq., p. 45), by a profligacy of sentiment which has
cast a just odium on his character. In the letters of Cicero,
the correspondence of George Washington, of which some
choice selections are found in Irving's Life of Washington,
there are exquisite specimens of politeness. In oratory
we shall find numerous examples in any of our great
orators, especially in the exordiums of their speeches ;
for instance, in the Introduction of Webster's address on
occasion of a reception tendered him at Boston, in which
the modesty of the distinguished orator is no less charm
ing than the warmth of his affection.
§ 3. Oratorical Precautions.
265. Oratorical Precautions are such special precautions
as the orator uses to avoid giving offence in circumstances
of peculiar delicacy.
266. 1. When we are compelled by necessity to .blame
our hearers, (a) We redouble our kindness ; (l>) We put the
mosriavbrable construction on their actions and their in-
tentions ; (c) We limit the blame to as few persons as pos-
sible ; (a) We blame with evident reluctance.
267. 2. When we are to speak of ajaublic misfortune we
should never seem to rejoice ; but we enter into the senti-
ments of the hearers and yield only to necessity. Thus
Cicero, in his oration on the Manilian Law, wishing to show
how complete was the defeat of Lucullus, effects his ob-
ject most strikingly by a single phrase, which he adorns
with the figures of omission and simile. " Allow me in
this place," he says, " to do like the poets, and say no-
thing of our calamity, which was so great that the news of
it was brought to the ears of Lucullus, not by a messen-
ger from the field of battle, but by a vague rumor."
268. 3. With regard to opponents, we should remember
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 65
that we can never hope to persuade those whom we offend,
nor their friends and followers. J A skilful speaker rarely
gives reasons for offence, even to his enemies, much less
to any others. Thus Cicero, in defending Murena, had to
oppose Cato and Sulpicius ; but he knew how to refute
them, even causing the court to be convulsed with laugh-
ter at their expense, and yet without offence. Still, there
are cases in which it is a duty to break entirely with men
and parties, and to treat them unsparingly, as Cicero does
with Verres, Catiline, Antony, and the Clodians ; with
these he considered that any milder course would have
been unmanly and unpatriotic. In such cases we cannot
hope to influence them except by fear ; but we may gain
our audience to sympathize with us in our opposition.
269. 4. The pulpit orator must attack error and vice fear-
lessly, as it is his sacred office ; but he must do it prudent-
ly. Hence when he deals with common errors and vices
he can safely be bold and strong ; though even then it is
easy to exceed by condemning totally what can partly be
excused. But when the errors or vices belong to certain
distinct classes of men he must use the greatest caution.
In particular he must not seem to apply to the whole class
what may be the fault of only some individuals. Particu-
lar persons should not, under any circumstance, be at-
tacked from the pulpit, though their arguments may be
refuted if it be thought proper. The errors of pernicious
sects may be, and oftfcn must be, exposed ; but the persons
belonging to those sects should not be sweepingly accused
of bad faith or want of intelligence, nor be held up to ridi-
cule, though their leaders may be often deservedly chas-
tised.
270. 5. When adverse passions animate the hearers one
way is to overawe them ; but this is rarely possible, except
with persons of little intelligence. The other way is to
1 66 Development of Thought.
enter partly into their sentiments, then either to turn the
same passion against a different object, or change the passion
itself into another, as St. Chrysostom did in his masterly
oration for Eutropius. Or we may do both together, as the
same orator did in the speech of Flavian to Theodosius.
271. 6. When the hearers are determined to remanr un-
moved, say to pity, they may be thrown off their guard by
woFEmg on some other passion to which they are prone.
Thus Cicero, wishing to move Caesar to pity Ligarius, and
knowing he was v determined not to pardon, began his at-
tack on the heart of Caesar through the passion of self-com-
placency.
272. The discourses of St. Chrysostom are exquisite speci-
mens of eloquence, and particularly suited to exemplify the
use of oratorical precautions. Eutropius had persecuted
the Church when prime minister of Arcadius ; disgraced by
the emperor and in danger of death, he had fled for refuge
to the cathedral of Constantinople. The people demanded
his death. The bishop attempts to appease them, and even
to prevail on them to intercede with the emperor for the
pardon of the fallen minister. He begins by entering into
the feeling of his hearers — viz., of joy at the fall of their
persecutor — but he gradually works on their pity and on
their Christian principles, saying : " Believe me, I relate not
this to insult and triumph over his fall, but that I may
soften your hearts' rough surface, may infuse one drop of
pity, and persuade you to rest satisfied with his present an-
guish. Since there are persons in this assembly who even
reproach my conduct in admitting him to the altar, to
smooth the asperity of their hearts I unfold the history of
his woes. Wherefore, O my friend ! art thou offended ?
Because, thou wilt reply, the Church shelters the man
who waged an incessant war against it. But this is the
especial reason for which we should glorify our God, be-
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 167
cause He has permitted him to stand in so awful a neces-
sity as to experience both the power and clemency of the
Church — the power of the Church, because his continued
persecutions have drawn down this thunderbolt on his
head ; and her clemency, because, still bleeding from her
wounds, she extends her shield as a protection, she covers
him with her wings, she places him in an impregnable se-
curity, and, forgetting every past circumstance of ill, she
makes her bosom his asylum and repose," etc. After
a while Chrysostom noticed that tears were flowing freely
from the eyes of his auditors ; then he added : " Have I
excited your compassion ? Yes, those tears that are flow-
ing from your eyes sufficiently attest it. Now that your
hearts are affected and an ardent charity has melted their
icy hardness, let us go in a body to cast ourselves at the
feet of the emperor, or rather let us pray that the God of
mercy may appease him, that he may grant an entire par-
don." The people were appeased for a time.
273. When Flavian, Bishop of Antioch, appeared before
the Emperor Theodosius to beg pardon for his people,
who were then under sentence of death for having dragged
the emperor's statue through the mud in mutiny, he be-
gins by confessing the whole guilt without any excuse ;
he mourns over the blindness and the present distress of
his people ; he describes the triumph of Satan in ruining
so noble and so beloved a city, and does not speak of par-
don till Theodosius has been moved to compassion and
generosity. His success was complete.
274. It happens not rarely that able and well-meaning
speakers and writers needlessly pain their friends, and
make themselves many enemies, by an ignorance or a dis-
regard of these oratorical precautions. On the other hand,
a delicate regard for the feelings and the prejudices of
their very opponents exhibited by such illustrious men as
1 68 Development of Thought.
Cardinals Wiseman, Manning, and Newman has largely
contributed to the veneration in which they are so deserv-
edly held by the English-speaking world, and to the power-
ful influence which their speeches and writings have exer-
cised even on their bitterest adversaries. As an example
of this I may refer to the conclusion of Cardinal Man-
ning's Reply to Gladstone's attack on the Vatican Coun-
cil : " And now there only remains to me the hardest and
saddest part of my task, which has not been sought by me,
but has been forced on me. A few months ago I could
not have believed that I should have written these pages.
I have never written anything with more pain, and none of
them have cost me so much as that which I am about to
write. Thus far I have confined myself to the subject-
matter of Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet ; but before I end I
feel bound by an imperative duty to lay before him, in be-
half of his Catholic fellow-countrymen, the nature of the
act which he has done," etc. {Battle of the Giants, p. 210).
275. It is as instructive as it is painful to read the ac-
count given by Goodrich {British Eloquence, pp. 232-234)
of the breach between Edmund Burke and Fox, which was
brought about in the British Parliament by the latter's
neglect of the precepts just given — an occurrence which
severed the bonds of friendship between these two states-
men so totally that even on his death-bed Burke refused
the interview which Fox solicited in the kindest terms.
ARTICLE III. Ways_ TO_IVTavE— tip Pirn stt Any.
276. We are now entering on the consideration of ajniUt-"
ter in whigh-the-power-of a speaker is chiefly to be ex-
erted ; by conspicuous success in this particular he is
properly denominated an orator. Probare necessitatis est,
delectare suavitqtis, flectere victoria. — " To convince isT^a
matter of necessity, to~pIease is the part of refinement, to
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 69
move is the triumph of eloquence.^ And again : " Since,
among all the attributes of eloquence, the greatest by far
is the power of firing the minds of the auditors and of
bending them at pleasure in any direction, who will not
grant that the speaker who is destitute of this power is
wanting in the most important element of success ? " (Cic,
Brutus, 80).
The same is the view of Quintilian {Inst., vi. 2) : " Let
the orator direct all his exertions to this point ; let him
fasten most obstinately upon it, without which everything
else is slender, feeble, and ungracious. So true it is that
the strength and the soul of a pleader's discourse centre
in the passions."
277. However, when we come to examine with a critical
eye the reasons why the ancients were so enthusiastic in
their praise of impassioned eloquence, we cannot fail to
perceive that, with them, the field open to najjhos was far
more extensive than it is with us. Every" "orator must
adapt himself to his own circumstances of time and place ;
and in the matter of pathos circumstances among the
moderns have made some very important changes. With-
out detracting in the least from the praise of impassioned
discourse whenever it is admissible, and while maintain-
ing that admiration for this kind of eloquence is rooted
in human nature, and therefore common to all phases of
civilization, we must point out two characteristic differ-
ences on this subject between ancient and modern times.
Attention to these variations is of the highest importance,
especially to classical students, who, to the great advan-
tage of modern literature, seek for inspiration from the
masterpieces of Greek and Roman eloquence.
278. The first difference affects the very nature of an-
cient pleadings at the bar, as compared with those of mod-
ern times. Among the ancients judicial pleadings offer as
I 70 Development of Thought.
wide a scope for impassioned discourse as any other spe-
cies of orations. In fact, we find that Quintilian had judi-
cial oratory chiefly in his mind when he wrote the praises
of pathetic language. He says {Inst. vi. 2) : " There is
perhaps nothing so important as this in the whole art of
oratory. An inferior genius, with the aid of instruction and
experience, may succeed and appear to great advantage in
all other parts. You can easily find men able to invent ar-
guments and proofs, and even to link them together in a
chain of deduction. These men are not to be despised.
They are well qualified to inform the judges, to give them
a perfect insight into the cause — nay, to be patterns and
teachers of all your learned orators. But the talent of de-
lighting, of overpowering the judge himself, of ruling at
pleasure his very will, of inflaming him with anger, of melt-
ing him to tears — that is a rare endowment indeed. Yet
therein consists the true dominion of the orator ; therein
consists the power of eloquence over the heart. As for ar-
guments, they proceed from the bosom of the cause itself,
and are always the strongest on the right side. To obtain
the victory by means of them is merely the success of a
common lawyer ; but to sway the judge in spite of himself,
to divert his observation from the truth when it is unpropi-
tious to our cause — this is the real triumph of an orator. . . .
No sooner does the judge begin to catch our passions and
to share our hatreds and friendships, indignations and fears,
than he makes our cause his own. And as lovers are ill-
qualified to judge of beauty, because blinded by their pas-
sion, so in like manner the judge, amidst his perturbations,
loses the discernment of truth. The torrent hurries him
along, and he gives himself up to its violence," etc.
279. Who does not feel that this view of the matter is in-
compatible with our idea of legal justice ? Happily our
laws are far more perfect than those of the ancient pagans ;
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 7 1
this is one of the many departments of modern civilization
in which the influence of Christianity has produced the
most beneficial results. What rhetorician would think, at
present, of teaching any artifice which should make " the
judge catch our passions, share our hatreds and friendships,
indignations and fears, so that he shall make our cause his
own " ?
"Our judges," as Adams remarks (Lect. xvi.), "are
sworn to administer justice according to the law. Our
juries are under oaths equally solemn to give their verdicts
according to the evidence ; and even the attorneys and
counsellors practising in all the courts are under like en-
gagement to do no wrong, and to suffer none knowingly to
be committed. That which Quintilian tells us to be the
most splendid triumph of the art would, therefore, now be
a high misdemeanor, and the judge who should suffer his
sentence to be diverted from the truth, and should join in
the hatreds and friendships of one party against another,
would soon get himself removed by impeachment."
280. There certainly are, and always will be, in judicial
oratory occasions when the most impassioned eloquence is
as appropriate and desirable as it ever was or as it can be
in any orations. For innocence must be defended and im-
portant rights must be maintained against unjust assailants.
Such cases will and must inspire the orator with earnest-
ness, and even passion, as warm as it is sacred and effica-
cious. But such circumstances are now comparatively rare.
Even when they do present themselves the tone of the
modern pleader will differ considerably from that of ancient
advocates. They appealed directly to the heart of their
judges ; he must ever presume, or at least appear to feel
convinced, that judge and jury look at nothing but the jus-
tice of the cause, and in his warmest passion he must seem
to aim at nothing but conviction. The few points which
172 Development of Thought.
are really left to the judge or jury's discretion will be after-
wards considered in our chapter on Judicial Oratory.
281. The second difference is thus referred to by Quincy
Adams : " The Christian system of morality has likewise
produced an important modification of the principles re-
garding the use of the passions. In the passage (above
quoted from Quintilian) no distinction is made between the
kindly and malevolent passions. Neither does Aristotle in-
timate such a distinction. Envy, hatred, malice, and indig-
nation are recommended to be roused, as well as love, kind-
ness, and good-will. The Christian morality has command-
ed us to suppress the angry and turbulent passions in our-
selves, and forbids us to stimulate them in others. This
precept, like many others proceeding from the same source,
is elevated so far above the ordinary level of human virtue
that it is not always faithfully obeyed. But although per-
haps not completely victorious over any one human heart,
the command to abstain from malice and envy and all the
rancorous passions has effected a general refinement of
manners among men."
282. We should not, however, understand Adams to con-
demn all manner of anger, for he tells us in another place
that this passion has its proper uses. But speaking of vi-
cious emotions, this judicious rhetorician adds : "Addresses
to the malevolent passions are not necessary to the highest
efforts of eloquence. To convince yourselves of this truth
compare the oratorical compositions of Burke with the let-
ters of Junius. They have been sometimes ascribed to the
same author, and there are many particulars in which the
resemblance between them is remarkable. They are both
writers of ardent passion and high vehemence. But in re-
gard to the motives and feelings which they strive to ex-
cite they differ as widely as possible. Burke was upon
principle and conviction a Christian. He had examined its
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos, i J 3
evidences, and compared its moral system with every other
known theory of ethics. The result of his investigation
was a conviction of the truth of Christianity, and its laws of
general benevolence and charity appear in every page of his
writings. The blaze of passion, the bolt of indignation, flash
with incessant energy from his controversial speeches and
publications, but the tone and character of his sentiment
is invariably generous and benevolent. All his maxims of
wisdom, all his remarks upon life and manners, beam with
humanity, with good-will to men. Junius was probably
infected with the shallow infidelity of the French Encyclo-
pedists. He seldom suffers an opportunity for a sarcasm
upon religion to escape him ; and he always speaks of piety
with a sneer, as if it conveyed to his mind no image other
than that of hypocrisy. Yet he dares not avow his infi-
delity, and, when directly charged with it, shuffles with the
dexterity of a rope-dancer, and cavils with the subtlety of a
sophist, to disclaim an offence which at the same moment
he repeats. It is obvious from the general tenor of his
letters that Christian principles were as foreign from his
heart as Christian doctrines from his understanding. His
eloquence is unshackled by any restraint of tenderness for
his species. He flatters the foulest prejudices. He pan-
ders to the basest passions," etc.
283. Still, after all proper allowances are made for the
difference between the ancient and modern uses of passion
in oratory, we find that the importance of this subject is
very great for the practical purposes of eloquence in all
ages ; and the matter is as difficult as it is important. In
explaining it we shall consider : 1. The passions of the
human heart in themselves ; 2. The chief means which may
be employed to arouse them, and through them to affect
the will of the hearers ; 3. The expression of excited pas-
1 74 Development of Thought.
§ i. On the Passions in Themselves.
284. The thorough study of the passions belongs to Phi-
losophy (see Rev. W. Hill's Moral Philosophy, p. i. c. iv.);
we shall view them here in as far only as they are at the
service of the orator. Thejmssions, according to Aris-
totle's Rhetoric (ii. 1), are " emotions on which pleasure or \
pain are consequent, and by which men are influenced in ]
their decisions." In English the term passion is usually
confined to strong feelings prompting to action, as Webster's
Dictionary expresses it ; and the same authority adds :
" When any feeling or emotion completely masters the
mind we call it passion." But the ancients comprised
under the term passions (Quintilian, vi. 2) not only the
more violent emotions, which they called nadr] — whence
our term pathetic — but also the gentler feelings, or "Hdtf,
by which they meant those social virtues and habits
of politeness which we have treated in a former para-
graph. We shall here consider the stronger emotions
only, taking the word passion in its ordinary English
meaning.
285. The pleasure and the pain of which Aristolle-speaks
as consequent upon these emotions arise from the appre-
hension of good and evil j for a man tends instinctively
to what his imagination presents to him as good, and he
shrinks from what it presents as evil. Hence come im-
mediately six passions, viz.:
From the apprehension of good arises complacency or
love j
From the apprehension of future good arises a wish or
desire ;
From the apprehension of present good arises pleasure
or joy ;
From the apprehension of evil arises dislike or hatred j
\
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 75
From the apprehension of future evil arises flight or
aversion ;
j_Frpm the apprehension of present evil arises pain or
sadness.
These six passions proceed directly from our instinctive
longing (co^£upiscentia)_£or good and instinctive shrink-
ing from eviTEfence they are called the concnpiscible
passions ; but this term does not here imply anything inor-
dinate.
Together with the apprehension of good and evil, we
often apprehend tUfjiculty in attaining good and avoid-
ing evil. With respect to such difficulty man experiences
a second set of passions, called the irascible passions.
hese are five in number : ** * •
From the apprehension of attainable good arises hope ;
From the apprehension of unattainable good arises de-
spair ;
From the apprehension of evil that is difficult to avoid
arises fear ;
From the apprehension of evil that is not difficult to
avoid arises courage ;
From the apprehension of present evil arises anger.
■ (SlTThomas, Summa, i° 2", q. 23.)
These eleven may be considered as simple passions ;
all the others take their rise from them. For instance :
intense pleasure becomes delight ; intense hatred, horror
or abomination ; intense sadness, dejection ; sorrow over
another's evil is pity j over another's good, envy; hope
and courage when excessive become presumption and rash-
ness; fear becomes cowardice ; anger changes into fury and
madness.
Aristotle devotes the first seventeen chapters of his sec-
j jond book on Rhetoric to a thorough and most ingenious
Examination of various passions, considering in what classes
1 76 Development of Thought.
of persons and under what circumstances they are apt to
arise and by what process they may be enkindled.
The passions with which the orator is chiefly concerned
are enumerated by Cicero as follows (De Or., ii. 51): love,
hatred, anger, envy, pity, hope, joy, fear, and displeasure.
286. The orator should carefully consider whether his
subject will admit of passion. The gentler emotions are
always appropriate, not in public speaking only, Bttt in all
kinds of literary compositions.} Even scientific treatises
rise to the dignity of literature when they are permeated
with proper sentiments : witness the philosophical writings
of Plato and Cicero, which are as soothing to th<: heart as
they are instructive to the mind ; while a mere text-book
from which all sentiment is excluded must derive all its in-
terest exclusively from intellectual sources.
But the stronger emotions or passions must no£ be em-
ployed on every subject. They are, of course, inopportune
in trifling matters, and they can rarely be used to advan-
tage before hostile hearers. For there is nothing more ab-
surd than for a speaker to give himself up to passion when
his hearers do not share his emotion. Even when the vio-
lent passions find a proper place they should be tempered
with gentlerfjelings. You must " use all gently," as Ham-
let instructs the players to do ; " for in the very torrent,
tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion,
you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it
smoothness.'' " Oh ! it offends me to the soul," he adds,
and the warning is not out of place for orators, " to hear a
robustious, periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to
very rags," etc. Still, we may add with Shakspeare : " Be
not too tame either ; but let your own discretion be your
tutor." I The rule of tempering the stronger with the gen-
^le^ernotions had, long before Shakspeare's time, been laid
down by Cicero in his treatise £>e Orator a (ii. 53).
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 77
§ 2. The Chief Ways of Arousing the Passions,
287. As the passions arise from what appears good or
evil, it is the task of the orator, when he desires to arouse
any passion in his hearers, to present the_gflod-or— the evil
strikingly to the minds of his auditors. His chief talent
will lie in this, to make his hearers apprehend vividly the
good or the evil, so as to arouse the proposed passions. For
the passions, though to some extent under the control of
the will, usually act instinctively, and to a certain extent
necessarily, on the apprehension of their proper objects.
'' To every emotion or passion," says Blair (Lect. xxxii.),
" nature has adapted a set of corresponding objects, and
without setting these before the mind it is not in the power
of any orator to raise that emotion. I am warmed with
gratitude, I am touched with compassion, not when a
speaker shows me that these are noble dispositions and
that it is my duty to feel them, or when he exclaims against
me for my indifference and coldness. He must describe
the kindness and tenderness of my friend ; he must set be-
fore me the distress suffered by the person for whom he
would interest me ; then, and not till then, my heart begins
to be touched, my gratitude or my compassion begins to
glow."
288. Now, there are three ways in which persons may
be made to apprehend a thing — viz., by presenting it, I. To
their senses~]~il.~~Tu then imagination ; or III. To their
uruter standing.
l. The orator will rarely be able to present objects to the_
senses. In poetry we have an instance of such use in the
speech of Mark Antony over the dead body of Caesar,
where he holds up the mantle of Caasar with the rents made
by the daggers :
178 Development of Thought.
" If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this mantle : I remember
The first time ever Caesar put it on ;
'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent,
That day he overcame the Nervii.
Look ! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through :
See what a rent the envious Casca made :
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed ;
And as he plucked his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it."
Thus among the Romans advocates produced in court per-
sons or things that might move the judges to compassion ;
e.g., the innocent children of the culprit or of the victim.
But we shall return to this subject when treating of judicial
oratory.
289. II. Things are presented to the imagination by
means of vivid descriptions, which the French call Tab-
leaux, the •featins. VrswHes. f Our term Vision is applied in
rhetoric to only one species of tableaux — viz., to the vivid
imagining of an absent object, describing it as if presentr^>;
Tableaux abound in eloquent speeches, especially in
those addressed to the less educated, as the readiest way
to reach their hearts is through the imagination. But there
is no audience, no matter how intellectual, with whom they
are not welcome and effective. As examples of powerful
descriptions of this kind we may refer to three parallel pas-
sages intended to arouse terror and indignation ; these pas-
sages are found in three speeches, of Demosthenes, Fox,
and Edmund Burke. The three tableaux are compared to-
gether and criticised by C. A. Goodrich in his British Elo-
quence, p. 346. Brief quotations here could not do justice
to the subject ; and, besides, the work referred to is found
in every library.
290. There is a speech of Spartacus to the Gladiators, by
Kellogg, which is familiar to most students of oratory, and
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 79
which affords excellent opportunities of studying the pro-
per method to stir up the passions, and the power of Tab-
leaux to effect this purpose. Spartacus strives to arouse
his fellow-gladiators to rebellion against their cruel mas-
ters, the Romans.
First he gains their love and admiration by an exhibi-
tion of his prowess. " Ye call me chief ; and ye do well to
call him chief who for twelve long years (Tableaux:) has met
upon the arena every shape of man or beast the broad em-
pire of Rome could furnish, and who never yet lowered
his arm. If there be one among you who can say that ever
in public fight or private brawl my actions did belie my
tongue, let him stand forth and say it." (Exhibition to the
senses :) " If there be three in all your company dare face
me on the bloody sands, let them come on." {Pity or sympa-
thy :) " And yet I was not always thus — a hired butcher, a
savage chief of still more savage men." (Tableaux of inno-
cence :) " My ancestors came from old Sparta and settled
among the vine-clad rocks and citron-groves of Syrasella.
My early life ran quiet as the brooks by which I sported ;
and when, at noon, I gathered the sheep beneath the shade
and played upon the shepherd's flute, there was a friend,
the son of a neighbor, to join me in the pastime. We led
our flocks to the same pasture and partook together our
rustic meal." (Tableaux of injury:) " That very night the
Romans landed on our coast. I saw the breast that had
nourished me trampled by the hoof of the war-horse, the
bleeding body of my father flung amidst the blazing rafters
of our dwelling ! " " To-day I killed a man in the arena,
and when I broke his helmet-clasps, behold ! he was my
friend. He knew me, smiled faintly, gasped, and died —
(Tableaux of innocence :) the same sweet smile upon his
lips that I had marked when, in adventurous boyhood, we
scaled the lofty cliff to pluck the first ripe grapes and bear
180 Development of Thought.
them home in childish triumph." (To excite indignation,
■wrath :) " I told the praetor that the dead man had been
my friend, generous and brave " — (Tableaux of humiliation:)
" and I begged that I might bear away the body to burn it
on a funeral pile and mourn over its ashes. Ay ! upon my
knees amid the dust and blood of the arena I begged that
poor boon" — (Tableaux of outrageous cruelty:) "while all
the assembled maids and matrons, and the holy virgins they
call Vestals, and the rabble shouted in derision, deeming it
rare sport, forsooth, to see Rome's fiercest gladiator turn
pale and tremble at sight of that piece of bleeding clay.
(Tableaux of insult:) And the praetor drew back, as I were
pollution, and sternly said, ' Let the carrion rot ; there are
no noble men but Romans ! ' (Fear :) And so, fellow-
gladiators, must you, and so must I, die, like dogs."
(Direct Pathos — Apostrophe :) (No. 293.) " O Rome !
Rome ! thou hast been a tender nurse to me. Ay, thou hast
given to that poor, gentle, timid shepherd lad, who never
knew a harsher tune than a flute-note, muscles of iron and
a heart of flint"; (Tableaux:) "taught him to drive the
sword through plaited mail and links of rugged brass, and
warm it in the marrow of his foe ; to gaze into the glaring
eye-balls of the fierce Numidian lion, even as a boy upon a
laughing girl." (Direct Pathos:) "And he shall pay thee
back until the yellow Tiber is red like frothing wine, and
in its deepest ooze thy life-blood lies curdled ! "
( Wrath — by irony ; Tableaux :) " Ye stand here now
like giants, as ye are. The strength of brass is in your
toughened sinews ; but to-morrow some Roman Adonis,
breathing sweet perfumes from his curly locks, shall with
his lily fingers pat your red brawn and bet his sesterces
upon your blood. Hark ! hear ye yon lion roaring in his
den ? 'Tis three days since he tasted flesh ; but to-morrow
he shall break his fast upon yours — and a dainty meal for
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 8 1
him you will be. If ye are beasts, then stand here like fat
oxen waiting for the butcher's knife. (Hope :) If ye are men,
follow me ! Strike down yon guard, gain the mountain
passes, and there do bloody work, as did your sires at old
Thermopylae."
(Patriotism :) " Is Sparta dead ? Is the old Grecian
spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower
like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash ? "
(Direct Pathos :) " O comrades ! warriors ! Thracians !
If we must fight, let us fight for ourselves ! If we must
slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors ! If we must die,
let it be under the clear sky, by the bright waters, in noble,
honorable battle ! "
291. Poetry deals extensively in the production of Tab-
leaux ; all poetry is full of them. It is constantly forming
lively conceptions and painting them on the fancy of the
reader, as it " bodies forth the forms of things unseen, and
gives to empty nothing a local habitation and a name "
(Shakspeare). Hence F^nelon has said that poetry is the
soul of oratory. This is one of the chief reasons why the
study of poetry has always been considered as an important
feature in the formation of an orator.
But in oratory great care must be taken, in the drawing
of pictures, that no mere play of the fancy be indulged
which wonjd amuse the mind rather than move the heart.
Oratorical Tableaux must liej-(a) Vimd, therefore precise,
without useless details, a few bold strokes, no vagueness ;
(b) Appropriate to excite the particular passion wanted ;
(c) Trim — *f.e., free from excessive ornaments, which only
weaken passion by delighting the fancy.
292. III. The third means of arousing the passions, and
the noblest of all, is powerful, clear reasoning ; this is best
suited to the educated, and it may Ire very effective with
all classes of auditors, as we see in the speeches of Demos-
182 Development of Thought.
thenes. But with any audience, reasoning, to arouse pas-
sion, must not be obscure or abstract, but cle,ar and vivid.
Very often it is mixed with brief pictures, and then it is
most powerful. We shall quote some passages from great
models.
From the First Philippic of Demosthenes : "When, then,
O my countrymen, when will you do your duty ? What are
you waiting for ? Some calamity, or dire necessity ? What,
then, do you call our present situation ? For myself, I can
conceive of no necessity more urgent to freemen than the
pressure of dishonor. Tell me, is it your wish to go about
the public squares, here and there, continually asking :
' What is the news ? ' Alas ! what more alarming news
could there be than that a Macedonian is conquering
Athens and lording it over Greece ? ' Is Philip dead ? '
' No ; but he is sick.' And what if he were dead ? If he
were to die your negligence would cause a new Philip to
rise up at once, since this one owes his aggrandizement less
to his own power than to your inertness."
From the Eighth Philippic . " Indeed, should some god
assure you that however inactive and unconcerned you
might remain, yet in the end you should not be molested
by Philip, yet it would be ignominious- — be witness, Heaven !
— it would be beneath you, beneath the dignity of your
state, beneath the glory of your ancestors, to sacrifice to
your own selfish repose the interests of all the rest of
Greece. Rather would I perish than recommend such a
course ! Let some other man urge it upon you, if he will ;
and listen to him, if you can. But if my sentiments are
yours — if you foresee, as I do, that the more we leave
Philip to extend his conquests the more we are fortifying
an enemy whom, sooner or later, we must cope with — why
do you hesitate ? " etc.
Lord Chatham's speech against search-warrants is full of
A rgumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 183
such impassioned reasoning ; e.g., "The learned gentlemen
were next pleased to show us that the government were al-
ready possessed of such power as is now desired. And how
did they show it ? Why, sir, by showing that this is the
practice in the case of felony, and in the case of those who
are as bad as felons — I mean those who rob the public or
dissipate the public money. Shall we, sir, put our brave
sailors upon the same footing with felons and public rob-
bers ? Shall a brave, honest sailor be treated as a felon
for no other reason than because, after a long voyage, he
has a mind to solace himself among his friends in the coun-
try, and for that purpose absconds for a few weeks in order
to prevent his being pressed upon a Spithead, or some such
pacific expedition ? " etc.
§ 3. Of the Expression of Excited^Pa,ssioas,
293. Tableaux and vivid reasonings_iat£nd_ed_to arouse
the passions are of tencallecTthe indirect .pathetic, while the
utterance of excited~emoti&nS"is"p"a"t'hos proper, or the direct^
pathetic. - — " ""
Once a passion has been aroused it may be proper to in-
dulge it and dwell upon it by exclamations and other
strong expressions of excited emotions. This manner of
development is what the ancients called Amplification — i.e.,
to enforce pathos by copious treatment, so as to keep the
minds and hearts of the hearers occupied with the aroused
passion.
294. The ancients had two species of amplification : the
Ssivwffi? consisted in accumulating kindred thoughts ; the
olvSjjGi? accumulated^_variojis_£xpiessions _a£— the same
thought. The one is copious in thoughts, the other in ex-
pressions.
Of the former this passage of Cardinal Newman (Ser-
184 Development of Thought.
mons, p. 218) may serve as a sample: "Such is the great
God, so all-sufficient, so all-blessed, so separate from crea-
tures, so inscrutable, so unapproachable. Who can see
him ? who can fathom him ? who can move him ? who can
change him ? who can even speak of him ? He is all-holy,
all-patient, all-serene, and all-true. He says and he does ;
he delays and he executes ; he warns and he punishes ; he
punishes, he rewards, he forbears, he pardons, according to
an eternal decree, without imperfection, without vacillation,
without inconsistency." Another example of Sslvooffi? oc-
curs in Cicero's Defence of Milo, where the orator deplores
the sufferings brought on the Roman people by the excesses
of Clodius, which he takes occasion to enumerate : /"Dura
mihi medius fidius,'' etc., n. 32.
Of the latter we have an example in the speech of Regu-
lus to the Roman Senate {Standard Speaker, p. 106): " Con-
script Fathers ! there is but one course to be pursued.
Abandon all thought of peace. Reject the overtures of
Carthage ! Reject them wholly and unconditionally !
What ! give back to her a thousand able-bodied men, and
receive in return this one attenuated, war-worn, fever-
wasted frame — this weed, whitened in a dungeon's dark-
ness, pale and sapless, which no kindness of the sun, no
softness of the summer breeze, can ever restore to health
and vigor ! It must not, it shall not be ! "
An eloquent avSr/ffi? is found in the first Catilinian,
where Cicero makes Catiline gloat over the disgraceful
revels which he will enjoy in the camp of the conspirators.
295. In connection with amplification we may call atten-
tion to its opposite, Extenuation, which accumulates belit-
tling ideas or expressions. Perhaps the most striking in-
stance of such an inverted SeivwffiS is found in Shak-
speare's well-known description of Queen Mab :
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 85
" She comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies," etc.
296. The chief requisite in the utterance of excited feel-
ings is usually expressed in the words written by Horace as
a rule for the action of tragedians :
Si vis meflere, dolendum est
Primum ipsi tibi.
" If you wish me to weep, you must first be afflicted yourself."
Certainly the spectators of a drama will not be moved to
tears if the actors on the stage remain cold and uncon-
cerned. The same rule will hold in the case of those who
listen to a public speaker. But the rule applies directly to
those passions that are aroused by sympathy. As Quincy
Adams remarks, in order to arouse shame the orator need
not feel that passion himself, but he will " sound the
trumpet of unblemished honor.'- " Would you strike ter-
ror," he adds, " be intrepid ; and in general remember that
if it is the nature of some passions to spread by contagion,
it is equally characteristic of others never to kindle with-
out collision." This remark is undoubtedly correct ; but
we think this distinguished rhetorician errs in the applica-
tion of his rule when he says : " Would you inflame anger ?
Be cool." Did not Spartacus burn with anger when he
strove to arouse the same passion in his fellow-gladiators ?
Did not Cicero when he denounced Verres and Antony ?
All that can be claimed in favor of Adams' view is that
anger must be restrained so that it do not overpower the
orator ; but the same holds of all the passions : the speaker
should always maintain full command of himself, while the
actor on the stage may appear to be overcome by his sor-
row or other passion.
1 86 Development of Thought.
Allowing for a few special exceptions, the old rule, that
passion must be excited by contagion, remains true ; and it
is emphatically declared by all the great rhetoricians to be
most important. Cicero expresses himself thus {De Or., ii.
45): " For as no rael is so combustible as to kindle without
the application of fire, so no disposition of mind is so sus- ,
ceptible of the impressions of the orator as to be animated I
to strong feeling, unless he himself approach it full of in-/
flammation and ardor." Here it is that natural gifts of no/
common kind are required for the formation of a trulw
great orator. What we stated in our introductory chapter
here finds its chief application : Pectus est quod disertos
facit, et vis mentis — " It is the heart that makes men elo-,.
quent, and their mental power."
297. Though the language of passion is less subject to
definite precepts than any other parts of an oration, still it
may not be useless to point out, after the example of the
old rhetoricians, some sourcesjpf amplification to which
great orators have frequent recourse.
298. 1. Accumulation ; e.g., of definitions, consequences,
causes, effects, circumstances, parts, etc. These are usually
displayed in the figures of vision, personification, interroga-
tion, answer, exclamation, etc. Sheridan, on the Begum
charge, exclaims : " Filial Piety ! It is the primal bond
of society. It is that instinctive principle which, panting
for its proper good, soothes unbidden each sense and sen-
sibility of man. It now quivers on every lip. It now
beams from every eye. It is that gratitude which, soften-
ing under the sense of recollected good, is eager to own
the vast, countless debt it never, alas ! can pay, for so many
years of unceasing solicitudes, honorable self-denials, life-
preserving cares. It is that part of our practice where
duty drops its awe, where reverence refines into love. It
asks no aid of memory. It needs not the deductions of
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 187
reason. Pre-existing, paramount over all, whether moral law
or human rule, few arguments can increase and none can
diminish it. It is the sacrament of our nature ; not only the
duty but the indulgence of man. It is his first great privi-
lege. It is among his last more endearing delights, when
the bosom glows with the idea of reverberated love," etc.
Another specimen of the kind is found in Webster's address
at Bunker Hill (Am. Eloq., vol. ii. p. 364): " But — ah ! Him !
the first great martyr in this great cause ! Him ! the prema-
ture victim of his own self-devoting heart ! Him ! the head
of our civil councils and the destined leader of our mili-
tary bands, whom nothing brought hither but the un-
quenchable fire of his own spirit ; him ! cut off by Provi-
dence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick
gloom ; falling ere he saw the star of his country rise ;
pouring out his generous blood like water before he knew
whether it would fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage !
How shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle the utter-
ance of thy name ! " etc.
299. 2. Comparison ; i.e., examples and anything simi-
lar, dissimilar, or contrary adduced to heighten passion.
Byron thus gives utterance to his passionate love of lib-
erty :
"Still, still, forever;
Better, though each man's life-blood were a river,
That it should flow, and overflow, than creep
Through thousand lazy channels in our veins,
Dammed like the dull canal with locks and chains,
And moving as a sick man in his sleep,
Three paces, and then faltering — better be
Where the extinguished Spartans still are free,
In their proud charnel of Thermopylae,
Than stagnate in our marsh ; or o'er our deep
Fly, and one current to the ocean add,
One spirit to the souls our fathers had,
One freeman more, America, to thee ! "
Development of Thought.
V
300. 3. "Climax," as Adams remarks (Lect. xxiv.), "is the
universal key to all oratorical composition. It applies to
the discourse as a whole ; it applies to every sentence as a
part. The ideas of the audience should be kept in a con-
stantly ascending state, though it is not always necessary
that the ascent should be made by regular and artificial
steps." Pathos especially should go on increasing in depth
and intensity; for, as Quintilian remarks (Inst., vi. 1),
" whatever does not add to the passion detracts from it."
As a peculiar manner of amplification, climax is exempli-
fied in the following extracts : " It is a crime to put a Ro-
man citizen in bonds ; it is the height of guilt to scourge
him ; little less than parricide to put him to death. What
name, then, shall I give to the act of crucifying him ? "
(Cicero In Verr.)
" Gentlemen, if one man had anyhow slain another, if an
adversary had slain his foe or a woman occasioned the
death of her enemy, even these criminals would have been
capitally punished by the Cornelian law ; but if this guilt-
less infant, who could make no enemy, had been murdered
by its own nurse, what punishments would not then the
mother have demanded ? With what cries and exclama-
tions would she have stunned your ears ? What shall we
say, then, when a woman guilty of homicide, a mother
guilty of the murder of her innocent child, has comprised
all those misdeeds in one single crime — a crime in its own
nature detestable, in a woman prodigious, in a mother in-
credible, and perpetrated against one whose age called for
compassion, whose near relationship claimed affection, and
whose innocence deserved the highest favor ? " (Mc-
Kenzie).
301. 4. Reasoning or Inference. — i.e., when the orator
dwells on a matter that enkindles the passions not directly,
but indirectly and by implication, as Cicero does when, in
Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos. 1 89
his discourse on the Manilian Law, he dwells feelingly on
the prostration of the Roman power during the war of the
Pirates, thus keeping alive admiration in the hearts of his
hearers for the prowess of Pompey, who defeated these ene-
mies of the republic. " Quis enim toto mari locus," etc.^
Nos. 11 and 12.
Thus, too, Milton amplifies the person of Satan by a de-
scription of his weapons :
" His ponderous shield,
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,
Behind him cast ; the broad circumference,
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening from the top of Fesole
Or in Valdarno to descry new lands,
Rivers, or mountains on her spotty globs.
His spear, to equal which the tallest pine,
Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast
Of some great admiral, were but a wand
He walked with."
By these and like means pathos may be continued for
some time and with great effect ; for a momentary excite-
ment leaves no lasting impression, while a prolonged feel-
ing of any passion is apt to decide the action of the will.
302. Still, it must be remembered that violent excitement
cannot last long — violenta non durant — and the rhetorician
Apollonius remarks that " nothing dries up more quickly
than tears." Hence the orator must be careful not to sustain
any passion when the audience begins to tire of it ; and he
must remember that when the hearers cease to share his
feelings they will at once begin to criticise and find fault
with himself or his subject. He can do one of two things :
he may either conclude his speech when excitement is at its
highest, so as to leave a powerful impression on his hearers,
provided he can do so naturally without offensive abrupt-
190 Development of Thought.
ness ; or he may descend from the high tone of his passion
through gentler feelings, so as to find a natural transition to
the calm reasoning that is yet to follow.
The following is the transition used by Edmund Burke
after the pathetic passage above referred to (No. 289) :
" These details are of a species of horror so nauseous and
disgusting ; they are so degrading to the sufferers and the
hearers ; they are so humiliating to human nature itself,
that, on better thoughts, I find it more advisable to throw
a pall over this hideous object and to leave it to your
general conceptions."
Fox, after his brilliant pathos, simply says : " Sir, I have
done ; I have told you my opinion." Then he passes on
to some calm but earnest conclusions, and prepares to
finish his speech.
303. The orator in a pathetic passage may arouse various
passions at once or in close succession, as one passion will
usually help another ; but he must carefully avoid mixing
anything foreign with his passions : (a) Anything abstruse
or erudite ; (6) Cold details, no matter how pretty ; (c) And
in general all ornament evidently labored ; for these things,
besides showing that he is not full of his subject, also fill the
minds of his hearers with images at variance with passion.
Finally, the orator must be careful not to carry the pa-
thetic too far — that is, beyond the measure of what is natu-
ral and becoming. Cicero was undoubtedly guilty of this
mistake when, in his prosecution of Verres, he thus con-
cluded a most pathetic passage : " Were I pouring forth
my lamentations to the stones and rocks in some remote
and desert wilderness, even those mute and inanimate
beings would, at the recital of such shocking indignities, be
thrown into commotion." This is not genuine passion, but
strained declamation.
CHAPTER V.
CONCLUSION OR PERORATION.
304. As it would appear inelegant and harsh under or-
dinary circumstances to enter upon a discourse without at
least a brief Introduction, so likewise it would usually be
unsatisfactory to stop abruptly without at least a brief Con-
elusion or Peroration.
But besides avoiding harshness, as the Introduction aims
at positive advantage by preparing the audience to receive
I favorably the views and sentiments of the speaker, so the
I Peroration aims at impressing those views and sentiments
I upon their minds by a last and well-directed effort.
[ Hence if the speech has been chiefly argumentative the
Conclusion ought either to insist upon some one important
consideration which the orator desires to be best remem-
bered, or to recapitulate the most weighty arguments. If
the point is to be carried rather by moving the heart than
by convincing the understanding, the whole power of pa-
thos may be appropriately exerted in the Conclusion. No
general rule can be laid down but this : that the speaker
should manage his Conclusion in such a manner that the
end come not unexpectedly on his hearers, and, on the
other hand, that it do come when they expect it. He may
select for the concluding sentence any argument or feel-
ing or image which will enable him to retire, leaving on
his auditors a favorable impression of his subject and no
unfavorable one of himself. Nothing is more unpleasant
in a Peroration than to see the orator continue when
every one expects and wishes him to stop. It is better to
192 Development of Thought.
conclude in any manner than remain hunting for a good
conclusion.
When the recapitulation occurs in the Peroration it may
be set off to advantage by the use of well-chosen terms,
striking figures, and variety in the way of introducing it ;
^.^-.,'"CicTf6^against Verres~puts one recapitulation in the
mouth of Verres' own father, while another is embodied in
an address to the gods whose temples have been plundered.
305. As examples of happy Conclusions we may quote
the following : Bossuet concludes his funeral oration on the
Prince of Conde thus : " Accept, O prince, these last efforts
of a voice which you once knew well. With you all my
funeral discourses are now to end. Instead of deploring
the death of others, henceforth it shall be my study to
learn from you how my own can be blessed. Happy if,
warned by these gray hairs of the account which I must
soon give of my ministry, I reserve solely for that flock
which I ought to feed with the word of life the feeble
remnants of a voice which now trembles, and an ardor
which is now on the point of being extinct."
Bayard, on the Judiciary, thus : " We are standing on the
brink of that revolutionary torrent which deluged in blood
one of the fairest countries of Europe. France had her
National Assembly, more numerous and equally popular
with our own. She had her tribunals of justice and her
juries. But the legislature and her courts were but the
instruments of her destruction. Acts of proscription and
sentences of banishment and death were passed in the
cabinet of a tyrant. Prostrate your judges at the feet of
party, and you break down the mounds which defend you
from this torrent. I am done. I should have thanked my
God for greater power to resist a measure so destructive to
the peace and happiness of the country. My feeble efforts
can avail nothing. But it was my duty to make them.
Conclusion or Peroration. 193
The meditated blow is mortal, and from the moment it is
struck we may bid a final adieu to the Constitution."
As a last specimen of an appropriate Peroration we shall
quote the words with which J. ft. Adams concludes his
first course of Lectures on Rhetoric (Lect. xxiv.) : " While
I am treating of the conclusion of a discourse, one-half of
the audience to whose instruction my services are devoted
is brought to a conclusion of their academic career. Ac-
cept my thanks, gentlemen, for the attention with which
you have uniformly favored me, and the punctuality with
which you have performed the duties of which the super-
intendence has been allotted to me. As you pass from
this to a theatre of higher elevation for the pursuit of
science, I cannot but feel a sentiment of regret at your de-
parture, though mingled with that of cordial felicitation
upon your advancement. Henceforth you are to unite the
study of living man with that of ages expired ; the observa-
tion of the present with the meditation upon the past.
And so rapid is the succession of years that you will soon
feel the balance of your feelings and of your duties point-
ing with an irresistible magnet to futurity, and the grow-
ing burden of your hopes and wishes concentrated in the
welfare of your successors upon this earthly stage ; of
yourselves upon that which must succeed. Go forth, then,
with the blessing of this your intellectual parent. Go
forth according to the common condition of your nature,
to act and to suffer ; and may He in whose hands are the
hearts as well as the destinies of men be your guide for
the one and your staff for the other. May he inspire you
at every needed hour with that fortitude which smiles at
calamity ; may he at every fortunate occasion fire you with
that active energy which makes opportunity success, and
that purity of principle which makes success a public and
a private blessing."
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE STYLE OF SPEECHES.
306. It is not here intended to write a treatise on style,
but simply to explain those qualities which should char-
acterize the style of speeches as distinguished from other
compositions.
The importance of style in oratory is such that without
it all our arguments, no matter how skilfully invented and
arranged, no matter how ably developed, remain ineffec-
tual, like a good sword hidden in a scabbard, 'f By polish
and embellishment of style," says Quintilian (viii. "3^ 2),
" the orator recommends himself to his auditors in hi§_
proper character ; in his other efforts he courts the appro-
bation of the learned, in this the applause of the multi-
tude." ..." This grace of style may contribute in no
small degree to the success of a cause ; for those who listen
with pleasure are both more attentive and more willing to
believe, . . . and are sometimes carried away by admira-
tion " (ib. 5).
307. The first quality of the oratorical style is Perspicui-
ty. This quality, necessary to a great extent in all manner
of compositions, ought to be so perfect in oratory that the
hearers not only can easily understand what is said, but
cannot help understanding it, as_we see the sun on a clear
day without looking for it J Without such perspicuity
speakers may tickle~Tta"ears of the vulgar with fair words
and empty sounds ; but such eloquence is contemptible
and such triumphs are not worthy of a good and earnest
man.
194
On the Style of Speeches. 195
Of this quality it is useless to give any example ; it is
the very essence of the proper style for public speaking.
Any passage of an oration that will not illustrate this
quality of style is evidently defective, no matter what
other good qualities it may combine. But it may not be
useless to give an example of the absence of this perspi-
cuity. Mazzini, addressing the young men of Italy, says :
" Love, young men, love and reverence the ideal ; it is the
country of the spirit, the city of the soul, in which all are
brethren who believe in the inviolability of thought and
in the dignity of our immortal natures. From that high
sphere spring the principles which alone can redeem the
peoples. Love enthusiasm, the pure dreams of the virgin
soul, and the lofty visions of early manhood ; for they are
the perfume of Paradise, which the soul preserves in issu-
ing from the hands of the Creator."
This is fine language ; but what does it all mean ? What,
for instance, does the speaker mean by " the inviolability
of thought " ? In this example the want of perspicuity is
not the result of dulness or carelessness in the orator, but
he appears to use language to conceal his thoughts. This
is called an art, but it is one no honest man would recom-
mend ; the use of it is a stain upon the character of a
speaker. Of obscurity resulting from dulness or negli-
gence examples are readily found in many speeches ; none
need here be quoted.
308. The second and distinguishing quality is Direct-
ness. The speaker should constantly address the hearers
as if cQJXY.ersing with them ;/this keeps their attention alive
andcauses the orator to -adapt himself to their understand-
ing. If we compare distinguished with inferior speakers we
find that the former are ever conversing, as it were, with
their hearers, while the latter often seem to be reading a
page of a book to them.
196 Development of Thought.
309. The third quality is Appropriateness ofjhe .glyicto
the thoughts. As style is nothing else than that sort of
expression which our thoughts naturally assume, it will, of
course, vary with the varying characteristics of the thoughts
themselves. Now, thoughts will vary with the aim for
which the orator conceives them. He may aim at pleasing,
at convincing, or at persuading ; and as he will adapt his
selection of thoughts to the special aim presently intended,
so likewise will he adapt the expression of them to the same
purpose. /This difference of style has been pithily express-
ed by Cicero in these words : Subtile in probando, modicum
in delectando, vehemens in flectendo.S His meaning is that the
style of an oi^-eii-s^iiW-%e""p"Tam and simple when he de-
sires to impart conviction, modest when he aims at plea-
sure, and forcible when he strives to persuade. Since
one or other of these three aims will be predominant on
any particular occasion, some one or other character of
style will prevail in a discourse. Still, even within the
"same oration there will naturally arise varieties of style,
according to the different aims of the separate parts. Thus
in the Introduction modesty and dignity are usually blend-
ed ; the Narration will be plain and very clear, " almost in
the style of daily conversation," says Cicero ; an Exposition
or Explanation requires leisure and repose ; Reasoning
I must be close and brisk, usually in short and pointed sen-
tences— incisim et membratim, as Cicero calls it ; Pathos
should be poured forth with " richness, variety, and even
copiousness of language" (De Or., ii. 53). It admits of
all the figures of word and thought, all the oratorical re-
sources of speech, provided that everything be kept withirx_
the limits of common sense and gentlemanly refinement.
310. The fourth quality is Appropriaienfiss_to_the_audi-
ence. A book is written for all ; its style may and should
differ with its subject-matter. But it cannot so easily adapt
On the Style of Speeches. 197
itself to the age and condition of the reader ; the style of a
speech can and should be so adapted. Not that an orator
who is refined with the refined should ever be vulgar with
the vulgar, but he should, without stooping too low, adapt
his language to the understanding of his audience. It is
beautiful to observe how great men have often stooped to
the taste of children, and lofty minds to the common
thoughts of the uneducated.
As an example of the latter we may quote the introduc-
tion to the first of Cardinal Newman's sermons : " When a
body of men come into a neighborhood to them unknown,
as we are doing, my brethren, strangers to strangers, and
there set themselves down, and raise an altar, and open a
school, and invite or even exhort all men to attend them,
it is natural that they who see them and are drawn to
think about them should ask the question, What brings
them hither ? Who bid them come ? What do they want ?
What do they preach ? What is their warrant ? What do
they promise ? You have a right, my brethren, to ask the
question. Many, however, will not stop to ask it, as think-
ing they can answer it for themselves. Many there are who
would promptly and confidently answer it, according to
their own habitual view of things, on their own principles,
the principles of the world," etc.
It may not be unprofitable to compare, or rather to con-
trast, the style of this extract with the introduction to a let-
ter of Junius addressed to the Duke of Grafton : " If na-
ture had given you an understanding qualified to keep pace
with the wishes and principles of your heart, she would
have made you, perhaps, the most formidable minister that
ever was employed under a limited monarch to accomplish
the ruin of a free people. When neither the feelings of
shame, the reproaches of conscience, nor the dread of pun-
ishment form any bar to the designs of a minister, the peo-
198 Development of Thought.
pie would have too much reason to lament their condition,
if they did not find some resource in the weakness of his
understanding. We owe it to the bounty of Providence
that the completest depravity of the heart is sometimes
strangely united with a confusion of the mind which coun-
teracts the most favorite principles and makes the same
man treacherous without art and a hypocrite without de-
ceiving." These are three well-balanced periods, each very
beautiful in sound and harmony, and certainly not devoid of
meaning. But the whole passage is strikingly unsuited for
oratory. No skilful speaker would use such style with any
manner of audience.
311. The fifth quality is beauty or oraamgatx this should
not be confined to the bathetic parts, but affect the entire
_Cflmfiosition, as blood permeates the whole human body.
It should be manly, strong, and chaste ; not effeminately
smooth and affected, but shining with the beauty of a
healthy, manly form. " True beauty of style is not one
thing and utility another," says Quintilian. " Nor is it
enough," he adds, " that the language be clear and pure ;
there should be a choice of proper words even on common
matters, but in important ones no ornament should be
spared unless it obscure the sense." Figures may add as
much to clearness as to elegance, as when Cicero says that
/" the laws are silent in the midst of arms," and that " the
sword is handed to us by the laws themselves." But the
figures should be ornaments, not impediments.
312. The sixth quality. Perspicuity and beauty com-
bined make a stylejjspalar — that is, such as the people
love to hear ; it is the perfection of the oratorical style.
To attain to it the orator must study to discern what
points the people wish to have explained or proved, and
what they are willing to accept on his word. He must
know what illustrations will suit their minds. For these
On the Style of Speeches. 199
purposes he must know his audience, their circumstances
and predilections, their weaknesses and their virtues, their
views and their prejudices, their interests and their aspira-
tions. Above all, he must Trnnw t.hj^hnTpan heart. The
knowledge of the heart of man cannot be acquired from the
mere precepts of a teacher, nor the writings of philosophers,
nor by the extensive perusal of literary works. These
means will help, no doubt, to that purpose ; but it is by
1'r,tprf'rLLU:':fi- with t"g £mMhui.iiiiiw -asaA especially by self-
intrnspcrtinn anrl fhp scrutiny ^f his nwn hfanl^ that a man
will acquire a knxiffle^ge_oMiumanjiat5?e which no books
can teach, and which will discover to him the secret springs
of human actions. He is apt to understand others best who
understands himself best ; the old oracle spoJcea_ta_Cicesȣ,
ji" Know thvself," is applicable to all men, but particularly
to those who are ambitious to become the guides of others.
313. A seventh quality is copiousness of treatment. In
reading a book a person can read over a second time what
he failed to understand the first time ; but it is not so when
he listens to a speech. Hence everything important must
be fully pr^sfTirH, »?ypn prcsPT"w1 m"r|1 than nnrp, b"* in
different terms, so that it does not appear to_be_a_J£peti-
tion. Ther-e-ar-e-parts of the speech that may be more con-
cise^ but the general characteristic of the oratorical style is
fulness, copiousness, rather than brevity. Skilful speakers
dwell long on the same thoughts, if important, presenting
them now in plain, then in figurative language ; now by
reasoning, then by illustration ; now in general, then in
particular examples, etc.
We have a fine specimen of copious style in this well-
known extract from a speech of Patrick Henry ; it will be
noticed that every thought is expressed more than once :
" Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the illu-
sions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a pain-
200 Development of Thought.
ful truth and listen to the song of the siren till she trans-
forms us into beasts. Is this the part of a wise man en-
gaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty ? Are we
disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see
not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly
concern our temporal salvation ? For my part, whatever
anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the
whole truth, to know the worst and to provide for it," etc.
As models in English of the oratorical style we may men-
tion Chatham, Fox, Edmund Burke, Pitt, Cardinals Wise-
man and Newman, Father Tom Burke, Webster, Calhoun,
Clay, Everett, Patrick Henry, etc.
314. The language of an orator, especially in extempo-
raneous efforts, will in great part depend upon his style^
in Qidiaftry^conyersattqn. Young men should therefore
accustom themselves to converse in correct and culti-
vated language, most carefully avoiding all rude and faulty
expressions and all kinds of slang terms. On the other
hand, they should avoid affectation, and even the use of
words that may be correct enough but not generally used ;
many recommend the use of words of Saxon origin, as
being more familiar to all and often more expressive.
Pedantry is always improper ; but it cannot be called
pedantic in a man of education to avoid vulgar words
and such constructions as violate the well-known rules
of grammar. " This advice," says Quintilian (Inst., x. 7),
" is approved by Cicero, that no portion of even our com-
mon conversation should ever be careless, and that what-
ever we say, on any occasion, should be, as far as possible,
excellent in its way."
BOOK V.
MEMORY AND ELOCUTION.
315. The composition of a discourse has now been ex-
plained with sufficient fulness ; but as a jewel, after it is
completely formed and polished to perfection, must next
be properly set to display it to the best advantage, thus
an oration must be committed to memory, and so delivered
as to make the most favorable impression. Hence we find
that to the parts of oratory so far explained, treating respec-
tively of the invention, arrangement, and development of
arguments, Quintilian adds two other divisions (Inst., iii.
3), viz.: Memory, and Action or Delivery. We shall briefly
consider these two subjects, treating : 1. Of memorizing ;
and 2. Of the delivery of an oration.
CHAPTER I.
ON MEMORIZING THE ORATION.
316. I. The first question that presents itself under this
head is whether, supposing the oration to have been writ-
ten, it is always necessary to commit it to memory. IsjL
not enough to read it ? This question was not discussed
by the ancients: they_..never read- -thei*-spe#eh,'es: They
always aimed at perfection in every art ; and there is no
doubt that the perfection of eloquence is impeded by those
trammels which the reading of a discourse imposes on the
orator. Even if he should have great dexterity in using
his manuscript, there is in his very glance at the written*
page an interruption to the flow of soul which marks real
eloquence.
"The practice of reading sermons," says Blair (Lect.
xxix.), " is one of the greatest obstacles to the eloquence
of the pulpit in Great Britain, where alone this practice pre-
vails. No discourse which is designed to be persuasive
can have the same force when read as when spoken. The
common people all feel this, and their prejudice against
this practice is not without foundation in nature. What
is gained hereby in point of correctness is not equal,
I apprehend, to what is lost in point of persuasion and
force."
317. Still, there are occasions when a written speech is
not altogether out of place. Thus lectures on scientific
subjects, delivered before highly intellectual audiences, may
sometimes be read to advantage. But even in such cases
it is desirable that the lecturer almost know his composi-
On Memorizing the Oration. 2^3
tion by heart, so that, under the modest appearance of a
reader, he may exert all the influence of an orator. When
a lecture is thus read, not spoken, we expect in it certain
qualities which may atone for the absence of oratorical
power — viz., (a) more solidity than usual, (6) more calm-
ness and deliberation, and (c) more correctness and refine-
ment of expression.
318. II. A second question is, Should the speech, if
memorizedjJhp learned word for-jgord? There is a great
advantage in doing so, as the speaker will thus reap the
full fruit of all* his preparation, and not lose a single one
of the figures and the constructions which he has carefully
selected. All orators should begin with this laborious ex-
ercise of their memories and continue it for many years.
In later life they may find it sufficient to write their ora-
tions and read them over once or twice. But, as a rule,
those who stop laboring stop improving. Some who cease
to read their speeches still continue to write them, and find
no little profit in thus reducing their thoughts to written
expression. In delivering their orations, thoughts more
forcible and more elegant may occur to them than those
which they had conceived during their hours of quiet pre-
paration, and practised speakers will know how to profit
by them. Whatever method they find most useful to
themselves, let them adopt it, for they are masters of the
art. The precepts of this book are written for pupils, and
for these undoubtedly the fullest and most careful prepara-
tion is the most desirable.
319. III. These, then, should memorize their discourses
word for word. For this purpose they should study how
to improve their memories. Now, How can the memory
be improved ? No faculty is more capable of improve- f
ment ; and the means is practice, exercise.
Rule 1. Young people should be made to learn by heart
204 Memory and Elocution.
daily. "If any one asks me," says Quintilian {Inst., xi. 2),
" what is the greatest, nay, the only art of memory, my
answer is. Exercise, labor, much learning by heart, much
meditation, and, if possible, daily repeated ; this is worth
all the rest. Nothing thrives so much by industry ; no-
thing perishes so much by neglect. Let, then, the prac-
tice be taught and made frequent in childhood ; and who-
ever, at any period of life, would cultivate his memory
must submit to the distasteful work of going over and over
again what he has written and already many times read.
The habit of learning by heart, when acquired in early
youth, gives ever after a readiness which disdains paltry
indulgences. No prompter, no looking on the paper, then
should be endured, for it encourages negligence ; and
when we have any fear of failing in our recitation we shall
scarcely succeed in hiding our embarrassment. Hence the
course of delivery will be interrupted, a hesitating, stam-
mering mode of speech will be formed, and all the grace
of the most elegant writing be lost in the continual con-
fession that, instead of speaking, we are reading a written
composition."
Rule 2. Let young people learn jhat_oaly which is
worth remembering. " There is perhaps as much failure
of excellence arising from the misapplication of this
faculty to frivolous or irrational objects as from its utter
neglect " (Adams).
Rule 3. Let all bewjyr_e_fii whatever js apt to impair the
memory. " The memory is impaired," says Adams (Lect.
xxxv.), "by all the diseases which the vices of men bring
upon them, and by some which are merely the visitations
of Heavelf It is occasionally suspended for a time by
sensual excesses, and particularly by intoxication. It is
gradually corroded and consumed by long-continued habits
of intemperance. All the violent passions, for the time
On Memorizing the Oration. 205
while they exercise their dominion over the mind, en-
croach upon the memory. ... A firm and conscientious
regard to truth is a quality very material to the memory ;
and hence the deficiency of that power in persons whose
veracity is feeble has in all ages been proverbial."
320. IV. What devices may assist to learn a discourse
by heart ?
1. Learn in the quiet hours of the evening, and repeat
the task in the calm of the early dawn.
2. In the manuscript distinguish the heads of the oration
by marks that catch the eye and thus seize on the ima-
gination.
3. Learn the speech by parts, according to those same
divisions.
4. Learn from the same manuscript, so as to derive as-
sistance from the local memory.
5. Learn aloud, so that the ear may aid the mind.
321. V. Is extempore sneaking ever advisable ? /
If by extempore speaking is meant speaking withopt
: careful preparation, without having formed clear ideas on
the matter discussed, it were rash ever to attempt it.
"Eloquence," says Quintilian, "derides those who thus
. insult her ; and those who wish to appear learned to fools ,
are decidedly pronounced fools by the learned " {Inst., xJ
7). But extemporaneous-Speaking is usually understood
to have a different meaning, and to consist in the delivery
, ioT an oration the matter of which has been thoroughly
studied and arranged, but not reduced to written sentences.
It differs from the full preparation in this one point, that
the words are not written ; but the plan is usually drawn
up, and even the words are passed over in the mind, and
sometimes the introduction at least is written out. " It
is the general practice," says Quintilian, " among plead-
ers who have much occupation, to write only the most
206 Memory and Elocution.
essential parts, and especially the commencements, of
their speeches ; to fix the other portions, that they bring
from home, in their memory by meditation, and to meet
any unforeseen attacks with extemporaneous replies "
{Inst, x. 7).
322. Even such manner of extemporizing is advisable
for those only who cannot prepare in full. For persons so
circumstanced we shall add a few suggestions culled from
Quintilian (Inst., x. 7).
1. " If any chance shall give rise to such a sudden neces-
sity for speaking extempore, we shall have need to exert
our mind with more than its usual activity ; we must fix
our whole attention on our matter, and relax for the time
something of our care about words, if we find it impossi-
ble to attend to both. A slower pronunciation, too, and a
mode of speaking with suspense and doubt, as it were,
gives time for consideration ; yet we must manage so that
we may seem to deliberate, and not to hesitate. . . . After-
wards, as we proceed on our course, we shall fill our
sails. . . . This will be better than to launch forth on
an empty torrent of words, so as to be carried away with
it, as by the blasts of a tempest, whithersoever it may wish
to sweep us.''
2. " There is also another kind of exercise, that of medi-
tation upon whole subjects, and going through them in
silent thought (yet, so as to speak, within ourselves) — an
exercise which may be pursued at all times and in all
places, when we are not actually engaged in any other oc-
cupation."
3. " Speak in the hearing of several persons, especially of
those for whose judgment and opinion you have much re-
gard ; for it rarely happens that a person is sufficiently
severe with himself. Let us, however, rather speak alone
than not speak at all."
On Memorizing the Oration. 207
4. "As to writing, we must certainly never write more
than when we have to speak much extempore j for by the
use of the pen a weightiness will be preserved in our mat-
ter, and that light facility of language which swims, as it
were on the surface, will be compressed."
CHAPTER II.
ELOCUTION OR DELIVERY.
323. By Elocution orDelijfiiy we mean the art of regu-
lating the voice and the gestures. But the ancients in-
cluded style as a portion of elocution, and what we call
delivery they denominated Action. We read of Demos-
thenes that, after failing of success in one of his earliest
orations, he walked away disconsolate, a picture of despair.
He was met by a friend, a distinguished elocutionist, who,
on learning the cause of his disconsolate looks, walked
home with him, and there declaimed some portions of the
orator's manuscript in such a way that Demosthenes won-
dered at the power exhibited in his own production when
perfectly rendered. Henceforth he devoted himself with
redoubled ardor to the study of delivery ; and later in life,
when he was asked what was the chief point in oratory, he
replied action ; and what the second ? action again ; and
the third ? action once more. So thoroughly did he feel
convinced that almost the whole efficacy of oratory de-
pends upon elocution. Cicero and Quintilian quote this
conviction of Demosthenes with approbation. Adams sus-
pects that in modern times delivery is of less importance.
This may be true enough in judicial oratory, owing to the
altered character of our courts ; and it may hold, to some
extent, in representative bodies. For it now often happens
that a discourse is expected to appear in the public press
immediately after it is spoken, and that more importance is
attached to the impression it will make on the readers of it
throughout the land, than to its immediate effect on the
Elocution or Delivery. 209
hearers in the legislative halls. But when discourses are
spoken before a popular audience with a view to present
results, then the power of delivery is as great as it ever
was, for it flows from the very constitution of human na-
ture.
Thus Shakspeare, who knew mankind so well, makes the
Duchess of York thus impeach the sincerity of her hus-
band :
" Pleads he in earnest ? Look upon his face ;
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are jests ;
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast ;
He prays but faintly and would be denied ;
We pray with heart and soul."
324. Elocution cannot be taught to perfection by precept
alone ; more than any other branch of oratory it requires
the assistance of a teacher ; but we may refer to the most
important directions usually laid down by rhetoricians on
this subject. We shall divide the matter into its two natu-
ral branches of pronunciation and gesture.
Article I. Pronunciation.
325. A member of a popular assembly, as Adams re-
marks, is said to make a speech ; a lawyer at the bar argues
a cause j the orator of a festival delivers an oration, and a
clergyman preaches a sermon. The management of the
voice in all these species we denominate ProryineMrtTon.
Now, the functions of the voice are twofold — to transmit
words to the ears of the audience, and to convey emotions to
their hearts.
326. I. To trijiTifiim't wnHn t" tllfi °QV° the speaker must
attend to : 1. Loudness ; 2. Distinctness j 3. Slowness j. and_
4. Pauses.
1, The Loudness should be such that the orator shall
210 Memory and Elocution.
be easily understood by all whom he addresses ; excess is
unpleasant. The voice has three pitches: t\iS~Mgh, for
calling to some one at a distance ; the low, for whispering ;
and the middle, for ordinary conversation.
This4ast_should generally be used in public speaking.
It alone can be properly modulated and long supported.
The high pitch soon pains the speaker, and whatever is felt
to pain the speaker at once pains the hearers. All this
should be remembered by those especially who speak in
the open air. Finding that the voice does not come back
to them, as it does in a hall, they readily imagine that they
do not speak loud enough. This may be true or not, but
taking a higher key will not mend it ; it will only make
them hoarse and prevent them from being understood at all.
Every man's voice has a certain limit of power, beyond
which it is useless to strain it. That power is exerted to
the best advantage in the middle pitch. All that can be
done is to manage the voice judiciously.
2. For this purpose Distinctness of pronunciation is of
the greatest importance. Tilt; leettownust cut every syllable
sharply and precisely, so that every sound be produced
perfect in its kind and carried to the ear separately from
every preceding and every following sound. A weak voice
speaking with distinct articulation will be far better under-
stood than a strong voice without it. Even a whisper well
articulated can be made to fill a vast hall. When a reso-
nance exists, even in a smaller room, this distinctness be-
comes absolutely necessary.
3. A proper degree of Slownesajs-required, both that the
words may not run into each other, and also that no more
sound be given out than the speaker can conveniently ut-
ter at one breath. But, that he may not run into the oppo-
site defect of a drawling manner, he will do well to seek
the direction of a discreet friend.
Elocution or Delivery. 2 1 1
4. The Pauses that mark the sense should be attended to.
As distinctness^ of pronunciation keeps the syllables from
running into one another, so the pauses should keep apart
groups of words. Sentences are perfect groups, each of
which makes a full sense. A larger pause will separate
these. Within the sentences are smaller groups, which
should be separated by minor stops, even when no marks
of punctuation are written. Now, the voice should be so
judiciously managed as to keep together all the words that
are grouped into a common construction, and to separate
those that are to a degree independent of one another.
These pauses will, if carefully managed, allow the speaker
to take breath and prevent him from feeling fatigued.
327. II. To convey emotions to the heart, whether the
gentler feelings- that please or the stronger passions that
arouse, attention must be paid to emphasis and to the
tones.
1. Emphasis is aspecial stress laid on some words more
than oiuitliefsr^tt is often used to distinguish the sense, as
will be readily noticed by pronouncing a sentence like this,
" Do you ride to town to-day ? " different times with differ-
ent emphasis. Emphasis becomes a vehicle of emotion when
the stress is prompted by the feelings of the speaker rather
than by the bare requirements of the sense, as when the
following lines of Byron, describing the " Dying Gladia-
tor," are feelingly pronounced :
" He heard it, but he heeded not ; his eyes
Were with his heart, and that was far away ;
He recked not of the life he lost, nor prize.
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay :
There were his young barbarians all at play ;
There was their Dacian mother — he, their sire.
Butchered to make a Roman holiday —
All this rushed with his blood. Shall he expire,
And unavenged? Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire ! "
2 1 2 Memory and Elocution.
2. Tones are the peculiar modulations of sound which
nature has adopted to express various feelings. Sheridan
has said that " words express ideas, tones emotions "
(Art of Reading). To utter different feelings in one and
the same tone is like using one word to express different
ideas. The prevalence of one only tone in a speech pro-
duces monotony, which is as unpleasant as it is lifeless.
The right management of the tones is the most impressive
element in moving the heart. Now, if we remember that
the power to move the heart is what properly denominates
a man an orator, we shall readily understand how impor-
tant is the study of the tones. Unfortunately, paper in-
structions are powerless to teach the tones. Nature must
dictate them, and the living voice may help to suggest them
to imitative youths. But no one can explain on paper the
peculiar modulations of voice with which a feeling heart
will pour forth sorrow like this :
" Alas, my noble boy ! that thou shouldst die !
Thou who wert made so beautifully fair !
That death should settle in thy glorious eye,
And leave his stillness in this clustering hair !
How could he mark thee for the silent tomb,
My proud boy, Absalom !
" Cold is thy brow, my son ! and I am chill,
As to my bosom I have tried to press thee !
How was I wont to feel my pulses thrill,
Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee,
And hear thy sweet ' My father ! ' from those dumb
And cold lips, Absalom ! " — Willis.
Still, these suggestions may be useful : i. The speaker
must feel every emotion keenly. Here applies the maxim :
Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum ipsi tibi. It is not
enough that he has a tender heart ; he must himself viv-
idly realize the situation. This power of conceiving pas-
sion can be developed by judicious training in the declaim-
Elocution or Delivery. 213
ing of pathetic passages in prose and verse. Boys have
wonderful power of imitation in this regard. 2. Let
speakers guard against such tones as are not prompt-
ed by real sentiments. There exists in various localities
a sort of sing-song, the outgrowth of mannerisms. Such
are certain pulpit tones. The preacher, it is true, occu-
pies a peculiar position. As ambassador of Christ, from
whom he has a mission, he is entitled to speak with spe-
cial authority, sicut potestatem habens — " like one having
power." But there is no reason why he should be unnat-
ural. Like the Apostle, "let him weep with those that
weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice, and become all
things to all men."
Article II. Gesticulation.
328. Gestures are motions of the body intended to add
grace or expression to speech. Like tones, they are the
language of nature — a language not equally developed in
different nations and in different individuals, remarkably
varied and expressive among the races of southern Europe,
and as remarkably scanty and unmeaning among more
northern peoples. The warning of Shakspeare, " Do not
saw the air too much with your hand, thus," would be
pointless among Italians, whose variety and expressiveness
of gesture are almost as perfect as the music of their
spoken language. It appears to have been the same with
the ancient Romans : the figures painted in the Vatican
copy of Terence represent the very attitudes and gestures
familiar to this day among the modern inhabitants of the
Eternal City. Among these, gestures are plentiful, even in
common conversation ; children acquire the use of them
as they acquire their mother-tongue. (See on Italian ges-
ticulation one of Cardinal Wiseman's Essays, vol. iii. p. 531,
or Dublin Review for July, 1837.) Among those nations
214 Memory and Elocution.
that speak the English language the faculty of gesticulation
needs careful training, and we may say with Cardinal Wise-
man .- " We do think that our pulpit eloquence would be
greatly improved by Italian gesture ; a species of action
not considered as a poising of limbs alternately or by given
laws, the stretching out of the right hand at one member of
a sentence and of the left at another, as silly books on
elocution describe, but of action considered as language
addressed to the eyes, which as definitely conveys ideas
through them as the words do through the ears, and which
consequently rivets the spectator as much as the auditor,
and makes men long to see the orator."
But gesture should be taught by living masters. Van-
denhoff, an accomplished elocutionist and a successful
teacher of his art, says : " I know of no means of teaching
gestures by written instructions ; nor do I think that much
assistance can be gathered from plates of figures repre-
senting different actions and attitudes." Still, he proceeds
to lay down some general directions which substantially
agree with those taught by all modern writers on the sub-
ject, and with the minute rules formulated by Quintilian
{Inst., xi. 3). Nor is this agreement to be wondered at,
since gestures are a language of nature, and therefore must
be radically the same among all men.
329. To gesticulate-properly an orator must have ac-
quired a great facility to adopt all manners of attitudes and
motions which are elegant and expressive. In particular
he should be taught :
1. A dignified^jMjarjng fiLthe_body, not stiff, but firm,
manly, and free, with head erect but not bolt-upright, chest
expanded, feet not far apart.
2. A great variety of motions witETTiis-Tcrms, not start-
ing from the elbow, as Adams strangely recommends, but
from the shoulders, as elocutionists generally teach. Now
Elocution or Delivery. 215
the right arm will move alone ; now, but rarely, the left
one by itself ; often the two in unison. All the motions
should be made in curves, for the curve is the line of
beauty. The arms themselves must be extended in a
curve, rarely straight at full length ; and when they hang
down they must be in a natural posture of rest.
3. A prgg+ flavihility ahn^t. t.hft wrists and hands.
There are comparatively few speakers " who have ever
realized the wonderful life, vigor, and expression which
lurk within a shapely and facile hand " (Potter, Pastor and
People). " There is an extraordinary character in the
palm of a well-shaped, nervous hand ; and this is equally
evident, whether it be employed in the downward gesture of
forbidding, crushing, or destroying, or whether it be turned
toward the object addressed with the action of aversion,
rejection, or repulsion. The action of the hands when
they are closed or clenched in strong passion is wonder-
fully vivid and expressive " (ibid.) Hence Quintilian
remarks : " The action of the other parts of the body
assists the speaker, but the hands, I could almost say,
speak themselves." What a pity, then, that many persons
appear to be at a loss what to do, during their discourse,
with such awkward appendages as their hands seem to be !
330. All these elements of declamation can, with proper
training, be acquired by most speakers. Once possessed,
they can readily be adapted to any particular discourse,
provided proper judgment guide them. Judgment or
common sense will direct them to the twofold end of, all
elocution — elegance and power. Elegance requires that
some gesture or other be used to reltenrsameness in the
appearance of the speaker's person, and it will suggest such
motions as are in unison with the sounds of the periods ut-
tered. But the power_of_£zpression is the chief aim of ges-
tures, whether these help to express the sense — as when
216 Memory and Elocution.
they point to the spot where the object spoken of is im-
agined to be, or they imitate the motions referred to— or
whether, as is more usual, the gestures express the feelings
of the soul. This latter kind of gestures is instinctive, like
the tones : it expresses desire, aversion, anger, rebuke, sup-
plication, horror, hope, dejection, despair, etc., etc., by
very different motions, not of the hands only, but espe-
cially of the countenance, and, above all, of the eyes, those
mirrors of the soul. Expression of features can, of course,
not be subjected to rules, nor can the motions of the hands
be directed by rule alone. The soul must speak through
the body, with which it constitutes one complete being.
331. Let the aspiring orator be taught in youth by a truly
able master how to declaim properly some select pieces of
prose and verse. Let him practise before some judicious
friend on the proper application of tones and gestures to
some of his early discourses. Then through life, provided
he feels intensely the passions to which he gives utterance,
and provided he is possessed of such social virtues as gen-
tleness, modesty, etc., which will give the passions smooth-
ness, he will be a graceful and a forcible speaker.
332. We scarcely see the necessity of adding further par-
ticulars on the subject of gesture, unless it be to call atten-
tion to some minor details.
1. The hands should seldom be closed. Their usual
form is open, but not stiff ; with the fingers joined and
slightly curved, except the index finger and the thumb,
which are straight.
2. Shrugging the shoulders, or any such ungraceful mo-
tion, and all grimaces should be carefully avoided. No
buffoonery is ever allowed.
3. The gestures should be appropriate to the subject and
the circumstances. Copious gesticulation is out of place
in a familiar address ; wide gestures are ill-suited to trifling
Elocution or Delivery. ' 217
matters, narrow ones to important thoughts. Modesty dic-
tates the use of fewer gestures on starting out.
4. The eye must follow the direction of the hands.
5. The hands may somewhat anticipate the words to
which they refer, but never linger behind them.
6. The hands are not usually to be raised above the eyes,
nor to gesticulate below the waist.
7. The body should not swing like a pendulum.
8. The speaker should rise and come forward with dig-
nity, and not begin his discourse abruptly, but when all are
ready to hear him.
9. Practising before a mirror is often recommended, and
it has advantages ; but a judicious friend or an able teacher
is better than all the looking-glasses in the world. For a
man may be blind to his own faults and mistake his oddi-
ties for beauties. However, he might make use of a mir-
ror to correct those defects to which others have called his
attention.
BOOK VI.
THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ORATORY.
333. The purpose of dividing oratory into certain species
must, of course, be to assist the orator in attaining the end
or object for which he discourses. Now, this object is per-
suasion— i.e., influencing the minds of his hearers ; there-
fore the various species of oratory ought to be distinguished
with reference to the minds of the hearers.
" But the hearer," says Aristotle (Rhet., i. 3), " must neces-
sarily be either an unconcerned hearer (dsoapo?) or one who
is expected to decide (npirrji) ; and he is to decide either
on things past or on things to come. Some, then, decide
on things to come, as do the members of a popular assem-
bly ; others on the past, as a judge in a court of justice
(SiKaffTrj?) ; while others decide respecting excellence
(3v va/xeoo?), as does the unconcerned hearer. Thus there
will result three kinds of orations : the deliberative, the ju-
dicial, and the epideictic. Cicero, in his Partitiones, calls the
same " deliberationis, judicii, exornationis."
In the egideictic, more usually called by its Latin equiva-
lent, demonstrative, the hearer is to judge of excellence ; not
of the excellence of the discourse alone, ~ but— also, and
chiefly, of the excellence of the person or thing that is the
'subject-matter of the discourse. Some rhetoricians mis-
understand this term, and consider demonstrative oratory
as idle declamation. Webster's Dictionary, on the other
The Different Species of Oratory. 219
hand, makes it " seek to persuade by full amplification."
These are misconceptions.
The distinction of species laid down by Aristot'rv is radi-
cal and exhaustive ; every discourse that has real unity be-
longs to one of these three kinds. The reason is that the
hearer is necessarily in one of the three conditions stated
above.
334. After laying down the essential difference between
the species, Aristotle points out some accidental or sec-
ondary differences. Deliberation, for instance, deals with
exhortation and dissuasion ; it regards a future measure,
viewed usually as expedient or inexpedient. Forensic rhe-
toric, on the other hand, is concerned with accusation and
defence ; it regards a past fact as just or unjust. Demon-
stration is employed in praising or blaming persons for
what is honorable or disgraceful ; it usually regards the
present, for qualities presently possessed are wont to make
a man admirable or contemptible.
Aristotle calls all these differences accidental. Thus the,
demonstrative may incidentally dwell on what is just or/
what is honorable in the person praised ; the deliberative)
may consider the justice or the honorable character of the
measure proposed, etc. But many modern rhetoricians
confound what is accidental with what is essential, and sup-
pose that whenever praise and blame are dwelt upon there
is demonstrative eloquence.
^-Even J. Q. Adams, one of the most correct of modern
critics, says (Lect. x.) that " the panegyric of Pompey in-
terwoven by Cicero into his oration on the Manilian Law,
that of Caesar in the oration for Marcellus, that of litera-^
ture in the oration for Archias, . . . and Cicero's invec-
tives against Antony in his Philippics, against Piso, Cati-
line, Clodius, and Verres in many others of his orations,
220 The Different Species of Oratory.
are applications of the demonstrative manner in certains-
parts of deliberative or judicial discourses." An important
distinction is here overlooked by Mr. Adams. Not all pas-
sages praising or blaming a person belong to demonstrative
oratory, but such only as are addressed to the unconcerned
hearers, deoopoi, as Aristotle calls them — that is, to men
who are not actually engaged in making up their minds
about a case or a motion. We have on a former occasion
explained digressions (252) as passages in which the orator
departs for a while from his subject for some special pur-
pose. They resemble episodes in epic poetry. In this way
demonstrative passages may be introduced in deliberative
or judicial orations by way of digressions ; and the praise
of poetry in Cicero's oration for Archias is a case in point.
But, in most of the instances here mentioned by Adams,
praise and blame are intended by the speaker to produce
definite effects on the present decision of judges or delibe-
rative bodies. This constitutes them in different species of
oratory, and brings them under the control of different
laws of composition.
335. The ancients, in laying down their logical divisions
of oratory, viewed the mind of the hearer as variously con-
ditioned ; but in all those varieties they considered the
hearer as deciding or speculating on natural principles
alone — natural justice, natural usefulness, natural honor.
The moderns must add a fourth species of oratory to suit
the peculiar state of mind of a hearer who views things in a
supernatural light. This is sacred oratory, for which the
ancients had no equivalent. We shall, therefore, treat in so
many chapters of these four species : the deliberative, the
forensic, the demonstrative, and the sacred.
Dr. Blair scarcely does justice to this distinction, which,
as he nevertheless acknowledges, runs through all the an-
The Different Species of Oratory. 2 2 1
cient rhetorics and is followed by many moderns (Lect.
xxvii.) He proposes what he calls a " more useful division,
taken from the three great scenes of eloquence — from
popular assemblies, the bar, and the pulpit." But, as
Adams remarks, " we must reinstate demonstrative oratory
in the place from which Dr. Blair has degraded it."
CHAPTER I.
DELIBERATIVE ORATORY.
336. Deliberative oratory, as has just been explained,
supposes hearers who are expected to decide on a particu-
lar measure. The orator is to aim at persuasion or dissua-
sion, j Now, either of these implies not only the conviction
— ef-fhe auditors' understanding, which is the task of forensic
rhetoric as well, but also the moving of their will. Here,
then, is a field which affords the speaker room for the dis-
play of all the resources of his art. And as the audience
is usually either very numerous or, if small, highly intellec-
tual, and the subjects may be of the greatest importance,
the deliberative is evidently a most noble species of ora-
tory. \ Cicero, while assigning to forensic eloquence the
"place of the highest difficulty, has assigned to the delibe-
rative that of the greatest importance.
337. It is especially important in all lands in which the
government is in whole or in part of the representative
kind, and in none more than in the United States : " From
the preponderance of democracy in the political constitu-
tions of our country, deliberative assemblies are more nume-
rous, and the objects of their deliberations are more diver-
sified, than they ever have been in any other age or nation.
From the formation of a national constitution to the man-
agement of a turnpike, every object of concern to more
than one individual is transacted by deliberative bodies.
National and State conventions for the purpose of forming
constitutions, the Congress of the United States, the Legis-
Deliberative Oratory. 223
latures of the several States, are all deliberative assemblies.
Besides which, in our part of the country, every town,
every parish or religious society, every association of indi-
viduals, incorporated for the purposes of interest, of educa-
tion, of charity, or of science, forms a deliberative assem-
bly, and presents opportunities for the exhibition of delibe-
rative eloquence " (Adams, Lect. xi.)
338. In the precepts so far laid down for oratorical
compositions in general, we have made frequent applica-
tions to the eloquence of popular assemblies ; we shall
now add some further explanations. Quintilian suggests
an appropriate division of the subject : " In persuading
and dissuading three particulars are chiefly to be regarded :
what is the subject of deliberation, who are those who de-
liberate, and what is the character of him who would in-
fluence their decision " (iii. 8). We shall treat these three
particulars in as many articles, and add a fourth on the
style suited to various classes of deliberative assemblies.
Article I. The Subjects of Deliberation.
339. The subjects of delihRra.tion. no matter how various
in other respects, all agree in this one point : that they con-
sider particular—measures proposed for adoption. Here
applies all that has been said (b. i. c. 1) on the subject
the question, the state ofjhe. gue.siimt^ etc. ; attention to those
precepts cannot be inculcated with too much care. Hav-
ing formed a clear idea of the motion before the meeting,
of the measures to be advocated or opposed, the speaker
must next consider by what arguments he can influence his
hearers. For this purpose he may apply all the topics ex-
plained above ; in particular he will attend to the follow-
ing points :
1. The legality of the measure discussed. We shall let
224 The Different Species of Oratory.
a statesman (J. Q. Adams) explain this matter : " The ar-
gument of legality must always be modified by the extent of
authority with which the deliberative body is invested. In
its nature it is an argument only applicable to the negative
side of the question. It is an objection raised against the
measure under consideration, as being contrary to law. It
can, therefore, have no weight in cases where the delibera-
tive body itself has the power of changing the law. Thus
in a town meeting it would be a decisive objection against
any measure proposed that it would infringe the law of the
State. But in the Legislature of the commonwealth this
would be no argument, because that body is empowered to
change the law. Again, in the State Legislature a measure
may be assailed as contrary to the law of the Union, and
the objection, if well founded, must be fatal to the measure
proposed, though it could have no influence upon a debate
in Congress. There, however, the same argument may be
adduced in a different form, if the proposition discussed
interferes with any stipulation by treaty or with the Con-
stitution of the United States. The argument of illegality,
therefore, is equivalent to denial of the powers of the de-
liberating body. It is of great and frequent use in all
deliberative discussions ; but it is not always that which is
most readily listened to by the audience. Men are seldom
inclined to abridge their own authority, and the orator who
questions the competency of his hearers to act upon the
subject in discussion must be supported by proof strong
enough to control their inclinations as well as to convince
their reason " (Lect. xi.)
2. The possibility. This also chiefly concerns the nega-
tive. For fttt can be~proved that a measure is impractica-
ble, incompatible with a necessary advantage, out of the
question, absurd, or stultifying to the body deliberating,
etc., this would defeat the motion altogether. We may
Deliberative Oratory. 225
remark, that which is very difficult or very unreasonable is
usually treated as impossible.
3. Necessity, on the other hand, is an argument for the af-
firmative-iTtle^fiFthe measure is proved to be necessary or of
extreme importance to the welfare of the public, it is thereby
made imperative on the assembly to vote for it at any cost.
4. UtiUty_5£jexpediency, and the opposite quality, of use-
lessness or inexpediency, if less decisive than the preceding
topics, are far more frequently available. Comparatively
few measures proposed in any assembly are either illegal,
impossible, or absolutely necessary ; most of them are to be
decided according to the preponderance of their advantages
or disadvantages. Utility, therefore, is the topic most fre-
quently to be consulted, and therefore Aristotle calls it the
characteristic argument of deliberative oratory.
5. Justice or injustice, honor or disgrace, the peculiar
topics of judicial and demonstrative eloquence, may often
suggest powerful arguments in deliberation. They are then
considered as special kinds of usefulness, as advantages
which recommend the adoption or rejection of the motion.
6. Facility and difficulty of execution are likewise im-
portant factors towards persuasion or dissuasion ; the con-
sideration of these is rarely to be neglected, as the auditors
are readily influenced by these motives.
7. Lastly, the argument of contingency is sometimes
available ; we mean the reflection Llial, whether one or
other consequence shall follow, in either case a real advan-
tage will be the result of the course which we recommend.
Thus Cardinal Wolsey advises Cromwell :
" Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace.
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not ;
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and truth's ; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr."
226 The Different Species of Oratory.
Article II. The Characters of the Hearers.
340. Among the motiveT3~wKfch may influence an au-
dience, the consideration of dutyjs certainly the most sa-
cred, and it should be the mtJst powerful with all classes
of men ; but, unfortunately, the reverse is the case with
many. It is generally the least welcome and often the least
effective with the hearers ; while flasswn^hich should be
the weakest motive, is generall/me strongest, especially
with coarser minds. Honor and interest occupy a middle
region, the former being the nobler, the latter usually the
more powerful.
341. But motives that will be most effective with one
class of auditors will be of little avail with another. The
orator must, therefore, stuij^the characters of his hearers
that he may discriminate judicfcmsty, and i-awslTcfuefly on
such arguments as will act most powerfully on their minds
and hearts.
No better suggestions can be given in this matter than
the following instructions of Cicero to his son : " The dis-
course must be accommodated not only to the truth but to
the taste of the hearers. Observe, then, first of all, that
there are two different descriptions of men : the one rude
and ignorant, who always set profit before honor ; the other
polished and civilized, who prefer honor before everything.
Urge, then, to the latter of these classes considerations of
praise, honor, glory, fidelity, justice — in short, of every vir-
tue. To the former present images of gain, emolument,
thrift ; nay, in addressing this kind of men you must even
allure them with the bait of pleasure. Pleasure, always
hostile to virtue, always corrupting by fraudulent imitation 1
the very nature of goodness herself, is yet most eagerly
pursued by the worst of men, and by them often pre-
ferred not only to every instigation of honor, but even to
Deliberative Oratory. 227
the dictates of necessity. Remember, too, that mankind
are more anxious to escape evil than to obtain good ;
less eager to acquire honor than avoid shame. Who
has ever sought honor, glory, praise, or fame of any kind,
with the same ardor that we fly from those most cruel af-
flictions, ignominy, contumely, and scorn ? Again, there is
a class of men naturally inclined to honorable sentiments,
but corrupted by evil education and corrupt opinions. Is
it your purpose, then, to exhort or persuade, remember that
the task before you is that of teaching how to obtain good
and eschew evil. Are you speaking to men of liberal edu-
cation, enlarge upon topics of praise and honor ; insist with
the keenest earnestness upon those virtues which contribute
to the common safety and advantage of mankind. But if
you are discoursing to gross, ignorant, untutored minds, to
them hold up profit, lucre, money-making, pleasure, and
escape from pain. Deter them, also, by the prospect of
shame and ignominy ; for no man, however insensible to
positive glory, is made of such impenetrable stuff as not to
be vehemently moved by the dread of infamy and disgrace."
Of course in the same audience there may be persons
of very different characters ; all classes are to be supplied
with arguments suited to each.
342. In connection with diversity of audiences we may
refer to Edmund Burke's speech at Bristol previous to the
election of 1780. It is considerably different in style from
his discourses in Parliament. Goodrich says of it {British
Eloquence, p. 292): "This is, in many respects, the best
speech of Mr. Burke for the study and imitation of a young
orator. It is more simple and direct than any of his other
speeches. It was addressed to merchants and business
men ; and while it abounds quite as much as any of his
productions in the rich fruits of political wisdom, and has
occasionally very bold and striking images, it is less ambi-
228 The Different Species of Oratory.
tious in style and less profluent in illustration than his more
elaborate efforts in the House of Commons. . . . Never
was there a more manly and triumphant vindication." All
this is certainly true. Why, then, did the orator fail of suc-
cess ? Because his arguments were too noble for his con-
stituents, who could not appreciate his exalted motives.
He might have stooped to their level and succeeded in
persuading them. He preferred to lose the election, and
his speech did him honor. But his failure confirms our
precepts.
343. It is proper here to remark that the consideration of
utility— or expediency is far from being unworthy of the
noblest minds, especially when, as representatives of the
people, they are in duty bound to provide for the public
welfare, and for the interests of their constituents parti-
cularly.
As no-iH]j]igt_2n.easure is to be advocated, so neither is a
depraied— motive to be urged in support of any project.
The end does not justify the means. Besides, even Cicero,
without the light of Christian revelation, understood and
taught his son that nothing is of solid advantage to the
hearers but what is just and virtuous. Still, no one is in
duty bound to aim on all occasions at the highest good nor
to act upon the noblest motives.
344. A great difficulty often presents itself to the states-
man in our day which was less formidable in past times.
Parties have always existed in free states, and the deci-
sions of the assemblies have usually been influenced by
party spirit, irrespective of the arguments adduced. But in
modern times the action of parties is probably more sys-
tematized in representative bodies. Legislators have their
minds fully made up to stand by their leaders ; they come
to the meetings to vote, not to deliberate. Many may well
say with Sheridan : " I have heard speeches that have made
Deliberative Oratory. 229
me change my opinion, but my vote never." Even in such
circumstances a strong, manly protest may often be as effi-
cient of good results as it is honorable to the speaker,
though it may not influence the present vote. Thus Fox,
by his eloquent oration against the rejection of Napoleon's
overtures, totally refuted the arguments of Pitt, who was
then prime minister ; the ballot after Fox's speech stood
265 against 64, in favor of Pitt, and it looked as if the dis-
course had been a total failure. But it was not : the House
could not then afford to vote against the premier, but in a
very short time the whole policy of England on this ques-
tion was reversed. The two discourses of Fox and Pitt
here referred to are masterpieces, and afford an excellent
opportunity to study the handling of either side of an im-
portant question (see Goodrich, Brit. Eloq.)
Article III. The Orator Himself.
345. In our Introductory Chapter we explained what
natural talents an orator should possess, and what mental
and moral qualities he should have acquired ; all those
endowments are of especial importance in deliberative elo-
quence.
/ The kijowieflge required of the speaker in this depart-
/ment is as varied as the classes of subjects on which he
may have occasion to discourse. If he is a statesman he
should thoroughly understand the philosophical principles
which support the whole social fabric. Wild theories,
novel experiments, peculiar notions, bold speculations will
only jeopardize the public weal. Strong common sense,
confirmed by the experience of ages, enlightened by the
soundest philosophy, and irradiated by the supernatural
light of Christian revelation, is absolutely needed to pro-
vide for the welfare of the people, especially in this age of
230 The Different Species of Oratory.
restless social agitation. An extensive knowledge of his-
tory, enlightened political economy, constitutional law and
jurisprudence, will be of great assistance.
346. Virtue is no less necessary for the popular orator.
" What stands highest in the order of means," says Blair
(Lect. xxxiv.), " is personal character and disposition. In
order to be a truly eloquent or persuasive speaker nothing
is more necessary than to be a virtuous man. This was a
favorite position among the ancient rhetoricians : ' Non
posse oratorem esse nisi virum bonum.' To find any such
connection between virtue and one of the highest liberal
arts must give pleasure ; and it can, I think, be clearly
shown that the connection here alleged is undoubtedly
founded in truth and reason."
The first reason he assigns for this is that a speaker who
is known to be honest, candid, and disinterested enjoys the
confidence of his hearers and gains their sympathy for the
side he espouses, while the corrupt and crafty politician is
distrusted.
Secondly, virtue is most favorable to the prosecution of
honorable studies ; it inures the mind to industry, frees it
from bad passions, and removes it from mean pursuits.
For, as Quintilian remarks, " nothing is so violently torn
and shattered by conflicting passions as a depraved heart.
Amidst the distractions which it produces, what room is
left for the cultivation of letters or the pursuits of any
honorable art ? No more, assuredly, than there is for the
growth of corn in a field that is overrun with thorns and
brambles."
Thirdly, and chiefly, from the fountain of real and genu-
ine virtue are drawn those sentiments which will ever be
most powerful in affecting the hearts of others. Bad as
the world is, nothing has so great and so universal a com-
mand over the minds of men as virtue.
Deliberative Oratory. 231
347. The virtues especially needed in this department of
eloquence are : 1. Unflinching fidelity to principles, both
moral and religious. — ■""" """' ■
2. Sincere Patriotism — i.e., devotion to the true honor and
real happiness of1 the country.
3. Magnanimity, disdaining whatever is at all objection-
able in-rfTeans and ends.
4. Conscientious respect for the rights of all men, even of
the lowest. *""" ■
5. Civil or moral courage, which is as noble as military
courage and far fess common.
348. There is a conspicuous example of this in a speech
of Lord Mansfield, spoken before a mob that strove to
overawe him in his court of justice : " Give me leave to
take the opportunity of this great and respectable audience
to let the whole world know all such attempts are vain. . . .
We must not regard political consequences, how formid-
able soever they may be. If rebellion was the certain con-
sequence we are bound to say, ' Fiat justitia, ruat coelum ! '
... I wish popularity, but it is that popularity that fol-
lows, not that which is run after. It is that popularity
which, sooner or later, never fails to do justice to the pur-
suit of noble ends by noble means. I will not do that
which my conscience tells me is wrong upon this occasion
to gain the huzzas of thousands, or the daily praise of all
the papers which come from the press. I will not avoid
doing what I think is right, though it should draw on me
the whole artillery of libels. . . . The threats go farther
than abuse — personal violence is denounced. I do not
believe it. It is not the genius of the worst of men in this
country, in the worst of times. But I have set my mind
at rest. The last end that can happen to any man never
comes too soon, if he falls in the support of the law and
liberty of his country," etc. (Brit. Eloq., p. 154).
232 The Different Species of Oratory.
It was by such qualities as we have enumerated that
Demosthenes and Cicero, Chatham and Burke, O'Connell
and Grattan, Webster and Calhoun, reached that high emi-
nence of influence and renown which no amount of skill or
elegance of style could of themselves have secured. Of
Chatham in particular Macaulay remarked : " That which
gave most effect to his declamation was the air of sincerity,
of vehement feeling, of moral elevation, which belonged to
all he said " {Essays, " Chatham ").
Article IV. The__Style.
349. As style is the peculiar manner in which a writer or
speaker "expresses his thoughts, it will, of course, vary with
the circumstances of the orator, with the nature of his sub-
ject, and especially with the character of the audience to
which he is laboring to communicate his views. Severely
exact in his discussion of law before learned judges, rich
and magnificent in demonstrative orations, the speaker
before deliberative assemblies will adapt himself to the
varieties of his subjects and of his hearers. It will, there-
fore, be useful to consider style in connection with these
different circumstances.
§ 1. Speeches before Promiscuous Assemblies.
350. To this class belong especiaTTy^actcTresses at mass-
meetings, at political gatherings, and the better class of
such as are called stump-speeches.
The leading qualities of all these should be :
1. Sound sense, solid thought, no trifling with the com-
mon sense of the hearers, nor idle display of oratorical
beauties, especially on very grave occasions, when men are
too earnest to be pleased by ornaments.
Deliberative Oratory. 233
2. Striking clearness, no intricate reasonings, but facts,
comparisons, anecdotes, ready wit, all expressed in lucid,
forcible, pictured language.
3. Warm feelings, but only such as the audience can be
made to share. Popularity is most readily achieved by
expressing in more apt language than would occur to the
listener himself thoughts and emotions already lurking in
his mind. Thus we win first, and next lead, our hearers.
The more a promiscuous crowd is composed of the rude
and uneducated the more it will be swayed by passion and
sympathy. Still, even a mob will admire striking exhibi-
tions of courage and firmness, and despise cowardice, in
those whose duty it is to restrain its violence and maintain
public order and peace. But whether severe measures or a
prudent forbearance be determined upon, a calm tone and
imperturbable good-nature, with a seasoning of humor and
the absence of all bitterness, are powerful aids for the popu-
lar orator.
4. Boldness and power, even of lungs, gesture, tone, and
style, are necessary in addressing numerous popular meet-
ings. Moreover, only strong arguments, too, are appre-
ciated on such occasions. " Not a voice like a flute, a nar-
row breast, a dwarfish stature, philosophical gestures, and
eyes modestly cast down will enrapture the masses in the
open air. The people do not appreciate eloquence and
genius except under the emblems of power," says the
French rhetorician Cormenin. But boldness does not
mean arrogance ; a mob expects more deferential manners
in its orator than a senate does.
351. An English lawyer, Mr. E. W. Cox, gives some use-
ful hints on what he calls " the Oratory of the Platform "
{The Arts of Writing, Reading, and Speaking). He is of
opinion that the first of the above rules is of minor im-
portance when ladies make up the bulk of the audience.
234 The Different Species of Oratory.
Pathos, beautiful language, a pleasing voice, refined man-
ner, and a graceful appearance he declares to be sufficient
with such hearers. Even if this were all that such hearers
would appreciate, it is not all that his sense of duty will
require of the speaker. Besides, Mr. Cox's view is hardly
plausible.
§ 2. Speeches before Select Audiences.
352. We refer here especially, but not exclusively, to
legislative bodies, such as the British Parliament, the Con-
gress of the United States, the Legislatures of the several
States, etc. Of speeches made in such bodies we may distin-
guish three classes: 1. Reports of committees, and all such
writings and addresses as are supposed to convey important
information ; presidential messages belong to this division ;
2. Formal speeches on any measure discussed ; 3. Mere busi-
ness remarks.
353. Those of the first kind should be especially pru-
dent, exact, moderate in tone, concise, lucid. Those of the
second kind should be :
(a) Telling, by hitting the precise point, which is often
done by laying down clearly the real state of the ques-
tion.
(b) Fresh, lively, and rapid, to relieve tedium, except on
occasions of unusual gravity. Comparatively few men can
command the attention of such an audience during a long
speech. Even of Edmund Burke it is said that he often
spoke to empty benches, for this very reason, that his ora-
tions were not lively and rapid ; but they were lectures of
the didactic kind and wearied his hearers. Especially
let no one bring an argument a thirtieth time, nor even a
second time, after it has been handled by a much abler
speaker.
(c) Ready and pliable, as various circumstances may re-
Deliberative Oratory. 235
quire. This does not exclude most careful preparation,
even writing the discourse, as all should do who have not
had much practice in public speaking ; but it requires a
certain readiness in adapting the prepared speech to the
new phases of the debate.
{d) Discreet, so as not to speak on every question, nor
refute every objection at full length, nor become pathetic
on trifles.
(<r) Parliamentary, observant of the rules of the parlia-
mentary code — i.e., of such approved customs as have ob-
tained the force of law in organized meetings.
(/) Above all, solid and sound in facts and reasonings.
354. Speeches of the third kind — i.e., mere business re-
marks— constitute a most important part of deliberative elo-
quence. They may appear easy and unworthy of attention,
but they are just the reverse. Much of the most important
work of political bodies is transacted by means of such
business remarks ; and he who succeeds in this manner of
eloquence becomes a power in a legislature. To succeed
in this, (a) never attempt a speech when a pointed remark
will do ; (6) combine great brevity with great clearness ;
(c) never quibble or cause useless delays ; (d) be sure to
offend no one, nor to humble any by unnecessary correc-
tions and criticisms. In connection with this precept we
may quote these few words of Henry Clay's reply to John
Randolph in the House of Representatives, 1824 : " Sir, I
am growing old. I have had some little measure of expe-
rience in public life, and the result of that experience has
brought me to this conclusion : that when business, of what-
ever nature, is to be transacted in a deliberative assembly
or in private life, courtesy, forbearance, and moderation are
best calculated to bring it to a successful conclusion," etc.
(Amer. Eloq., ii. 318). (e) Be not anxious to secure every
little advantage, reserving yourself for more important oc-
236 The Different Species of Oratory.
casions ; (/) never rise but when you can do some clear
good.
Still, it must be acknowledged that, to become a great
debater, copious practice is of the utmost importance.
" Scarcely any person," says Macaulay {Essays, " Chatham "),
" has ever become so without long practice and many fail-
ures. It was by slow degrees, as Burke said, that the late
Mr. Fox became the most brilliant and powerful debater
that ever Parliament saw. Mr. Fox himself attributed his
own success to the resolution which he formed when very
young of speaking, well or ill, at least once every night.
' During five whole sessions,' he used to say, ' I spoke
every night but one ; and I regret that I did not speak on
that night, too.' Indeed, it would be difficult to name any
great debater, except Mr. Stanley, whose knowledge of the
science of parliamentary defence resembles an instinct, who
has not made himself a master of his art at the expense of
his audience."
355. Models of speeches before select audiences abound ;
e.g., Cicero's First Philippic, his oration for Marcellus,
Lord Chesterfield's speech against licensing gin-shops, and
most of the speeches of Chatham, Grattan, Fox, and Pitt
collected by Goodrich in his British Eloquence ; also many
speeches of Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Patrick Henry in
American Eloquence. For brief extracts see Sargent's
Standard Speaker, part iii., Senatorial.
356. One of the best means by which young men may
prepare themselves for the practice of deliberative oratory
are well-conducted debating societies. On these Dr. Blair
makes some very sensible observations. " The meetings,"
he says (Lect. xxxiv.), "which I have now in my eye are to
be understood of those academical associations where a
moderate number of young gentlemen, who are carrying on
their studies and are connected by some affinity in the fu-
Deliberative Oratory. 237
ture pursuits which they have in view, assemble privately in
order to improve one another and to prepare themselves
for those public exhibitions which may afterwards fall to
their lot. As for those public and promiscuous societies
in which multitudes are brought together, who are often of
low stations and occupations, who are joined by no com-
mon bond of union, except an absurd rage for public speak-
ing, and have no other object in view but to make a show
of their supposed talents, they are institutions not merely
of an useless but of an hurtful nature. They are in great
hazard of proving seminaries of licentiousness, petulance,
faction, and folly. They mislead those who, in their own
callings, might be useful members of society into fantastic
plans of making a figure on subjects which divert their at-
tention from their proper business and are widely remote
from their sphere of life.
" Even the allowable meetings into which students of
oratory form themselves stand in need of direction in order
to render them useful. If their subjects of discourse be im-
properly chosen ; if they maintain extravagant or indecent
topics ; if they indulge themselves in loose and flimsy
declamation which has no foundation in good sense, or
accustom themselves to speak pertly on all subjects without
due preparation, they may improve one another in petu-
lance, but in no other thing, and will infallibly form them-
selves to a very faulty and vicious taste in speaking. I
would, therefore, advise all who are members of such so-
cieties, in the first place, to attend to the choice of their
subjects ; that they be useful and manly, either formed on
the course of their studies or on something that has relation
to morals and taste, to action and life. In the second place,
I would advise them to be temperate in the practice of
speaking ; not to speak too often, nor on subjects where
they are ignorant or unripe, but only when they have
238 The Different Species of Oratory.
proper materials for a discourse, and have digested and
thought of the subject beforehand. In the third place,
when they do speak they should study always to keep good
sense and persuasion in view rather than an ostentation of
eloquence ; and for this end I would, in the fourth place,
repeat the advice which I gave in a former lecture, that
they should always choose that side of the question to
which, in their own judgment, they are most inclined, as
the right and the true side, and defend it by such argu-
ments as seem to them most solid. By these means they
will take the best method of forming themselves gradually
to a manly, correct, and persuasive manner of speaking."
CHAPTER II.
FORENSIC ORATORY.
357. In deliberative and demonstrative oratory the mas-
terpieces of the ancients are still in our day perfect models
for the imitation of aspiring youths. It is not so in mat-
ters of forensic oratory. For a vast change has come over
tribunals since Christianity has enlightened the world on
the dignity and the rights of every individual man. It
will be useful to point out some differences thence arising.
358. 1. Among the ancients the pardoning power was
vested in the judges ; the amount of the punishment was
left to their discretion. Hence a principal aim of forensic
orators was to move the court to pity the defendant ; ap-
peals to the passions of the judges were frequent and ve-
hement ; the accused appeared in mourning, surrounded
by his sorrowing family, and humbled himself to the dust
even while most loudly protesting his innocence. All this
is changed now. The power of pardoning has been trans-
ferred to the executive, to the governors of our States ; the
jury in criminal cases has only one question to decide —
viz., Is the accused guilty or not guilty? The judge, on
their verdict, awards the sentence. In cases less than capi-
tal he may have some discretionary power to proportion the
penalty to the degree of the offence ; but even this power
is limited. In cases of life and death the judge is only the
living voice of the law. Adams compares the administra-
tion of justice to a strict syllogism, of which the written
law forms the major proposition, the verdict of the jury the
239-
240 77/<? Different Species of Oratory.
minor, and the sentence of the court the conclusion. The
law says that the wilful murderer shall suffer death ; the
jury decides that A. is a wilful murderer ; the judge con-
demns him to suffer death.
The obvious consequence of this change in our courts is
that the modern lawyer has little occasion to appeal to the
passions ; in criminal cases he must manage his pleadings
upon principles not only different from those followed by
the ancients, but often altogether opposite. He must ap-
pear to be fully convinced (even should he on any particu-
lar occasion have strong doubts on the subject) that the
court looks to nothing but the justice of his case, and he
must direct all his attention to establish this point. That
difference concerns chiefly the advocate for the defence.
359. 2. A second difference affects more directly the
prosecution. Among the ancients the accuser had full scope
to bring up against a culprit any crime of his whole life.
With us he must confine himself to the indictment ; he can-
not advance a step beyond the written accusation, planned
with technical accuracy. Every charge must be precise
and specific. Cicero accumulates against Verres all his
misdemeanors of fourteen years. In our courts most of
his charges would have been inadmissible, or not within the
indictment. His official misconduct would have been cog-
nizable by one tribunal, his acts of cruelty by another, his
thefts by a third.
Article I. The Subjects of Controversy.
360. The controversies that may be brought before a
court of justice are necessarily either of individuals among
themselves, or between individuals and the public power. By
public_power we do not mean the state as the owner of
property, for as such it is treated as an individual before the
Forensic Oratory. 241
courts ; but we mean the right of the state to punish of-
fenders in sanction of the law.
Every individual man, woman, and child has certain in-
alienable rights held from the Creator Himself independent-
ly of any social organization. There are, besides, civil
rights which result from social union. The state guards
and protects both these classes of rights by her civil code of
laws. When individuals are interfered with in_._the enjoy-
ment of these rights by other individuals a private wrong
is thus committed, and the persons thus injured may call
upon the state for aid in obtaining redress of the wrong.
The state answers this appeal through her civil courts.
But a wrong committed against an individual may often
be injurious to the state itself, to that public order essential
to its existence. The state protects herself against such
publifijwwmgs by her criminal code, by which she forbids
certain acts as crimes or misdemeanors, and appoints pun-
ishments, which she inflicts through her criminal courts. A
breach of promise, a non-payment of debt, is a private
wrong ; the state may be called upon to redress it, provided
the plaintiff first prove its existence by bringing suit in his
own name and at his own risk before the competent tri-
bunals. But in public wrongs the cause is adopted as that
of the nation, and the punishment of the offender is prose-
cuted in the name of the sovereign power. Select bodies
of men are from time to time appointed to inquire into all
such offences committed in their vicinity, and to present them
"to the competent courts for trial. The accusation drawn
up by this grand jury is called a bill of indictment, and the
prosecution is managed by a permanent public officer. The
person accused is then arraigned, and usually pleads that
he is not guilty of the offence charged against him. It is
then for the attorney-general, or the person conducting the
prosecution, to prove both the fact and the law — i.e., to prove
242 The Different Species of Oratory.
that the culprit committed the act, and did so in violation
of the criminal code. If the accusation fail in the proof
of either the accused is acquitted (Adams, Lect. xii.,
xiii.)
361. Civil and criminal wrongs require from the orator at
the bar very different methods of proceeding.
In civil suits .the court is treated as absolutely impartial
between the parties litigant : justice holds an even balance,
Written testimony and the evidence of the complainant
himself are received, while they are rejected in criminal
suits ; everything is done to discover on which side is the
better claim.
In criming! suits the process is very different ; the chief
care of the law is that no innocent person shall be pun-
ished. Criminal justice holds an uneven balance ; unlike
the blind pagan divinity, she throws the weight of mercy
into the scale of the accused. She jealously excludes from
the other scale all that is of a doubtful nature ; for she
prefers that ten guilty should escape rather than that one
innocent person should suffer. She directs juries to disre-
gard strong probability and yield to nothing but certainty
in finding a verdict against the culprit.
362. Hence the task of the attorney for the prosecution
is much more difficult than that of thg" advocate for the de-
fence. The former must establish every point to a cer-
tainty ; he must confine himself to matters of fact ; he can-
not travel out of the case to consider the antecedents of the
accused ; he cannot go a step outside of the indictment.
The ancients directed both parties to study the facts, the
will and the power of the accused. The prosecution is to
deal with the facts alone. But the defence may draw argu-
ments from all these topics. On the question of fact the
advocate may adduce everything that may throw doubt
on the proofs of the prosecution ; for a real doubt of guilt
Forensic Oratory. 243
is equivalent to a vindication of innocence. Considering
the will of his client, he may plead his peaceful and virtu-
ous antecedents, and show that he had no interest in com-
mitting the crime. From the topic of power he may at-
tempt to prove an alibi, and thus decide the acquittal. But
he must establish it clearly ; for this plea is so often abused
that it is generally looked upon as a desperate refuge of an
all but convicted felon, who uses his friends and accom-
plices to save him by false testimony from the hands of
justice.
Public wrongs are distinguished into two classes, personal
and official, tried by distinct tribunals, as will be explained
in the next article.
Article II. Various Tribunals.
363. We have referred in the preceding article to civil
and criminal courts or tribunals. The functions of both
may be combined in the same persons, as they actually are
in our supreme courts ; but even then the distinction ex-
plained is of the highest importance, as the union of the
same jurisdictions in the same tribunal does not affect the
differences pointed out in the rules of the evidence, in the
maxims of law, and the modes of practice peculiar to each.
364. For official wrongs — that is, for wrongs committed
by officers in their official capacity — the Senate of the United
States, or of the particular State against which the wrong
is committed, is the proper tribunal. In both cases the
lower House originates the impeachment ; the Senate
judges, and, when the guilt is proved, removes the culprit
from office and disqualifies him from holding any office of
honor, trust, or profit ; but it goes no further. The same
person may be afterwards tried by indictment before an-
other court, for the same crime for which he has been con-
demned on impeachment.
244 The Different Species of Oratory.
Impeachments are rare occurrences, but they must be
here noticed, as subject to special laws. In the lower
House the question whether the impeachment shall be re-
solved upon is deliberative, and not judicial. Great care
has to be taken that impeachments be not made the en-
gines of party.. If the impeachment is voted, a committee
of the House is usually appointed to manage the prosecu-
tion. The Senate sit as judges both of law and fact ; two-
thirds of the members must concur to condemn. The prin-
ciples of ordinary criminal jurisprudence are modified on
such occasions. The judges are less rigorously bound to
confine themselves to the prescriptions of the law.
" Moral and political considerations may contribute, to
some degree, to the formation of their judgment," says
Adams, which is correct if interpreted in favor of the de-
fendant. These motives can, of course, not be urged to
procure a condemnation as long as the guilt is not fully
proved. In the impeachment of Warren Hastings the
English Parliament determined to adhere to the strict rules
of legal evidence, thus making an important change in
English justice.
365. In the ordiriajx courts, whether criminal or civil,
the judicial powers are divided between the judge and the
jury. The radical distinction of the common law is that
the jury decides upon the fact and the judge upon the law.
But fact and law are often inseparably united. For in-
stance, when the question is to be decided whether the
culprit is guilty of libel, this involves the question, What is
libel in the sense of the law ? After the parties have ar-
gued the case, the judges are in the constant practice of
addressing the jury, and stating to them the law, with its
application to the facts upon trial. The judge in doing so
cannot always avoid giving his opinion on the facts. The
jury decides not only whether the culprit has uttered cer-
Forensic Oratory. 245
tain words, but also whether those words, under the circum-
stances, constitute what the law designates as libel. Thus
they give their verdict upon law and fact. The following
is given by Adams as an unequivocal rule to direct the
lawyer in the management of his cause (Lect. xii.) : " If
any question of fact is involved in the controversy the
cause must go to the jury. But if the parties have no dis-
pute upon the facts, and their contest is merely upon the
operation of the law, it is within the exclusive province of
the judge." Still, he adds : " Hence the parties often have
it at their option whether they will take a trial by the court
or by the jury ; and there are certain forms of pleading
suited to produce an issue in law, and others that are adapt-
ed to an issue in fact." The-preasbr pleadings here spoken
of are the parts of a lawsuit which are written — the charge
and the answer, drawn up before the case is orally discussed
in the court. By means of these papers the exact point is
settled on which the parties disagree, or join issue, as it is
called. The pleadings, in the popular sense of the term,
are the speeches made by the counsels.
366. In an argument to the court the orator must give a
disquisition on law~T in a speech to the jury a discussion of
the evidence. Both aim at conviction, not persuasion, but
by different means. To the bench is suited profound and
accurate reasoning ; to the jury copious elucidation. To
the judge results are presented ; to the jury principles may
have to be unfolded. The counsel must remember that the
judges are a learned and the jury not a learned body of
men. In fact, all the learned professions are eitber exempt-
ed or excluded from serving on juries.
367. Much of the skill of the lawyers in a case before a
jury will be employed in sifting the evidence. The ex-
amination and cross-examination of witnesses is of itself
one of the severest tests of a counsel's talents and ability.
246 The Different Species of Oratory.
Sometimes witnesses are unwilling to reveal the truth ; at
I
other times they try to put their own gloss upon the facts ;
again, though perfectly honest, they are prejudiced against
either side ; or they are too ignorant to state what they
know and what they are willing enough to reveal. In
criminal cases all the testimony is oral ; the truth must be
gathered on the spot, and little or no time can be taken to
prepare a speech. Not only the wording but even the plan
of the whole pleading must be extemporaneous. The very
state of the question may have to be determined on the
spot.
368. These circumstances make the oratory of the bar at
present the most difficult department of eloquence, while
among the ancients its especial difficulty arose from the
management of the pathetic. There are other sources of
embarrassment peculiar to forensic pleading in all ages.
The demonstrative orator stands alone without antagonist,
takes his own"time to prepare, and is usually listened to by
friends and sympathizers. The deliberative speaker stands
one among many in defence of his position ; he usually
commands the sympathies of a numerous party ; his defeat
is not to be a personal disgrace ; even if he fails to obtain
the vote of his hearers he may be honored by the course of
subsequent events. The lawyer has none of these advan-
tages : the property, liberty, reputation, and even the life
of his client depend mainly on his effort ; his own honor
depends on the same ; a sharp-sighted adversary watches
all his movements ; an assertion, a denial, a concession,
may be fatal to his cause ; learned and able judges, jealous
of their own honor, quick to detect a flaw in his argument,
fastidious to trivial declamation, must be thoroughly con-
vinced of the justice of his cause. The client's unreason-
able prejudices in his own favor are sure to aggravate the
difficulties of the situation ; success looks like the natural
Forensic Oratory. 247
course of justice, and defeat like the conviction of incom-
petency. Still, this incessant collision sharpens all the
faculties of the orator ; it draws a sharp line of demarca-
tion between spurious and genuine merit, and in the course
of time leaves, not the intriguing party, but the truly able
counsel, undisputed master of the admiration and the pa-
tronage of the public.
369. Diversity in the character of the courts will require
diversity in the style of the orator addressing them.
1. To a court consisting of one or more judges he must
speak with the respect due to superiors ; he may use tech-
nical terms ; he should avoid all appearance of declama-
tion, speaking usually with simplicity and directly to the
point. Still, on occasions of special importance he may
well rise with his subject and show himself possessed of
genuine eloquence. For an instance in point we may refer
to Webster's Speech on Girard's Will (vol. vi. p. 132). The
speech made a deep impression upon the public at the
time ; in some portions the orator reaches a lofty tone of
eloquence. (See pp. 153 to 163.)
2. Before a court of uuusual solemnity, as in the case of
a political impeachmenT^att-trre Tesources of oratory find an
appropriate field for their fullest exhibition. Of this spe-
cies of eloquence no grander specimens can be cited than
the speeches of ^Eschines and Demosthenes on the Crown
among the Greeks, of Cicero against Verres among the
Romans, of Edmund Burke against Warren Hastings in
England. This last oration has been characterized as the
greatest intellectual effort made before the British Parlia-
ment. See the oration and the judicious remarks of Good-
rich in his sketch of Edmund Burke {Brit. Elog.)
3. To. a jury the lawyer should talk kindly and politely,
as to equals. He should carefully weigh their amount of
intelligence and information, which is often rather limited.
248 The Different Species of Oratory.
In such a case he must make matters very clear to them,
carefully avoiding the use of technical terms, and seeking
the aid of familiar comparisons. He should rather talk with
his jury than at them, making himself, as it were, the thir-
teenth man of their body ; light, lively, plain talk, without
frivolity, is often the most effective (see Cox's Art of
Reading, Writing, and Speaking, pp. 264, etc.) Of course
cases of special importance will require a special elevation
in the style. Webster's speech in Knapp's trial on the
murder of Captain Joseph White (vol. vi. p. 42) is probably
the most brilliant and thorough specimen of this kind in
the history of the American bar. Erskine's speeches in the
case of Paine's Age of Reason, and his plea in behalf of
Lord Gordon, are distinguished models. His speech on
the Rights of Juries may be read to advantage in connec-
tion with this matter.
Article III. The Orator Himself.
370. As justice is administered' in modern times, the prin-
cipal sources of a lawyer's success are a character for pro-
bity, a thorough knowledge/of the law, and an untiring
devotedness to the labors of his profession. ._.
371. I. Probity. No honorable man will maintain that
money-making is the only or chief object of a lawyer's
career. It would fare ill with a country if such gain were
the highest aspiration of the legal profession. True, even
in such a land some might be honest, on the principle
that honesty is the best policy ; and they would not be
disappointed, for the confidence of their clients would be
to them a great advantage. But when honesty is pursued
simply as a policy and for no higher motive, it will not be
a sufficient security for many against the numberless temp-
tations to unfair dealing which beset the lawyer's path.
And still his probity is to be one of the chief protections of
Forensic Oratory. 249
his fellow-citizens. Whether, then, we consider his own
welfare or the public interest, probity is of the highest im-
portance in the forensic orator.
372. This virtue imposes upon him some important du-
ties : 1. With regard to his acceptance of the cases on
which he is consulted, he must remember that he is never
allowed to co-operate in any injustice.
[a) In criminal matters he may advocate the cause of
any culprit, however guilty ; and, once he has undertak-
en a case, he must give his client the benefit of his ear-
nest exertions to save him from the hands of the law. For
he assumes this obligation in virtue of the implicit contract
existing between client and advocate ; and the public
good requires that the guilty shall not be punished by any
private man, but only by the regular course of public jus-
tice. But no lawyer is justified in acting the part of an ac-
cuser against a person known to be innocent, unless it be
for the purpose of promoting the vindication of such inno-
cence.
(6) In civil cases — i.e., when property or titles are dis-
puted— if the claim is doubtful the lawyer may advocate
either side, so that the court may decide the matter. But if
he knows for certain that the claim of his client is invalid
he cannot promote it, for he would thus injure the lawful
claimant. He cannot even justly lend his assistance to ob-
tain a compromise, unless this be the less of two unavoid-
able evils ; but he must urge his client to abandon his un-
just claim altogether. As far back as a.d. 1274 a law was
made by Philip III., of France, requiring of lawyers an oath
" to undertake the management of none but just causes,
to defend these with diligence and fidelity, and to abandon
them as soon as their injustice became apparent." Our at-
torneys and counsellors practising in all the courts of the
United States are under like engagement to do no wrong
250 The Different Species of Oratory.
and to suffer knowingly none to be committed. Our judges,
too, are sworn to administer justice according to the law,
and our juries to give their verdict according to the evi-
dence.
373. 2. Justice to Ms client requires from the lawyer that
he shall —
(a) Use ordinary diligence to defend all his rights ;
(&) Use all proper expedition, so as not unnecessarily to
protract the suit ;
(c) Put him to no unnecessary expense ; e.g., by holding
out deceitful hopes ;
(</) Keep his secrets.
374. 3. Justice to the-adversary requires that —
(a) The lawyer shall use no fraud nor allow any to be
used in the case, such as false witnesses, forged documents,
misquotations of laws, etc. ;
(i) He shall cause the adversary no expense which can-
not be of benefit to his own client.
If a counsellor has, by unjust practices, deliberately vio-
lated the rights of any party, he is bound in honor and jus-
tice to see that the wrong be redressed, even at his own ex-
pense, if necessary ; and this though he may not have de-
rived any personal profit from his injustice.
375. II. A thorough knowledge of law. As the legal
profession constitutes in~every land a most influential body
of men, it is of the highest importance to the nation that
the level of their intellectual attainments be placed as high
as circumstances allow. In older countries a considerable
degree of proficiency in classical studies is required before
students can enter on the study of law ; and thus none but
well-disciplined minds are admitted to this important field
of labor. The same rule is observed with the leading mem-
bers of the civil service and with all the learned profes-
sions. The higher studies, too, are extensive and thorough
Forensic Oratory. 251
in proportion. In our republic, while, owing to various
unavoidable causes, the legal requirements are very limited,
much has been done by private exertion and by public pa-
tronage to supply aspirants to the professions with all the
advantages for mental culture which older communities in-
herit from remote ancestors. The consequence has been
that many of our statesmen and jurists have attained to
the most honorable eminence in their departments. Others
with inferior opportunities of study, but with uncommon
talents and untiring labor, have also gained great distinc-
tion.
But all men will acknowledge that, whether attained by
uncommon industry or by favorable opportunities, a thor-
ough knowledge of jurisprudence is a first requisite for suc-
cess at the bar ; any one who fails to obtain this knowledge
cannot reasonably hope for distinction in his profession.
As the common law forms the foundation of our jurispru-
dence, and is itself founded upon the intimate knowledge
of the natural rights of man, lawyers should be masters of
the science of Ethics. Now, this study supposes a clear
apprehension of the most important portions of Meta-
physics and a thorough understanding of all that Logic can
teach to direct reasoning and discover fallacies. In all
these acquisitions classical studies provide the best prepara-
tion that mankind has yet been able to discover. The use
which a lawyer may make, in his profession, of the Latin
and Greek languages is inconsiderable compared to the
mental training which classical studies afford as a pre-
paration for higher pursuits. (See Amer. Catholic Quarterly
Review for January, 1885, p. 18, etc., p. 140, etc.)
376. III. Untiring devotedness to the labors of his pro-
fession. Genius has often been defined as the power of
concentrating all one's attention on a matter. This defini-
tion, though not altogether correct, is at least suggestive of
252 The Different Species of Oratory.
much truth. Without such application no great success
can ever be achieved ; this general rule holds in particular
for forensic practice. But the most devoted laborers some-
times fall into an error which frustrates all their efforts.
They overload themselves with business, and cannot do
justice to what they undertake. They bring ruin upon
their clients and dishonor upon themselves ; they remain
superficial in their views, unreliable in their knowledge.
" Thus some," says Cicero (De Or., ii. 24), " while they
would have people believe that their practice is very exten-
sive and that they are hurried from one case to another,
attempt to plead causes which they do not understand.
. . . Now, no one can fail to disgrace himself by speaking
of subjects which he does not know ; and thus while he
makes little account of being called ignorant, which in real-
ity is the greater fault, he incurs at the same time the re-
proach of incompetency, which he is most anxious to
avoid."
377. To study a particular case the lawyer may take,
some useful hints from what Cicero says of his own prac-
tice (De Or., ii. 24): " It is my custom to have every client
explain to me his own case. I see to it that no one else be
present at the interview, so that he may speak with perfect
freedom. Then I take his opponent's part, to make him
defend his own ; and thus I get from him all the informa-
tion he can give. After he is gone I conceive myself in
three characters with perfect impartiality, putting myself
in my own, in my opponent's, and in the judge's place.
Whatever argument seems to present more advantage than
disadvantage I select for treatment. What I find to con-
tain more harm than good I leave alone and determine to
shun with care. Thus I gain this advantage, that I choose
my arguments at one time and develop them at another,
while most speakers, relying on their own talents, attempt
Forensic Oratory. 253
to do both at once." Every document bearing upon the
case should be carefutty scrutinized ; the places themselves
connected with disputed facts should be visited by the ad-
vocates in person ; legal authorities should be diligently
read ; precedents should be found and compared in detail
with the case in hand, etc., etc. But such matters belong
to a course of law studies rather than to rhetorical pre-
cepts.
CHAPTER III.
DEMONSTRATIVE ORATORY.
378. The relation which demonstrative bears to the other
species of oratory is analogous to that which poetry bears
to the other kinds of literature. In literature poetry regards
most directly the beautiful, and less directly the useful.
It is the same with demonstrative oratory. While all ora-
tory belongs to the liberal arts, the demonstrative species
belongs to them pre-eminently. To despise it implies an
absence of good taste ; a man might as well despise poetry,
music, and painting. Like all these, it is intended for the
contemplative mind ; by this characteristic quality it is dis-
tinguished from forensic and deliberative speaking, which
are intended to lead minds to a logical and desired conclu-
Article I. An Historical Sketch of Demonstrative
Oratory.
379. The ancient Greeks and Romans, who appreciated
so keenly the beautiful, held demonstrative eloquence in
high esteem. They composed panegyrics upon the gods,
upon illustrious benefactors of their countries, upon those
who had bravely fallen in battle, and even upon cities and
countries which had achieved renown. To praise depart-
ed relatives and friends was so honored a custom that
even Roman emperors have discoursed on such occasions.
It was but natural that those who were devoted to this
cultivation of rich encomium should occasionally intro-
duce passages of this species, as digressions, in elegant
Demonstrative Oratory. 255
orations of the deliberative and the forensic kinds. Thus
Cicero, in his plea for his old professor, the poet Archias,
pronounces an elaborate panegyric on poetry. He openly
tells his judges in his introduction that he is going to
depart from the usual course of pleading, and assigns as his
reasons for doing so the peculiar character of his client, the
literary taste of the praetor himself, who presided, and the
unusual concourse of literary men attracted by the occa-
sion. He first proves by legal argument that Archias had
become a citizen, and then enters upon his eulogium in a
very different strain.
Demonstrative oratory continued to flourish during the
decadence of classical taste, and produced some master-
pieces worthy of the golden era. Such were the panegyric
of Trajan by the younger Pliny, and the magnificent dis-
courses of St. John Chrysostom on St. Ignatius, on SS.
Maximin and Juventin, etc.
380. In modern times panegyrical eloquence has been
carried to its highest perfection — higher far than among the
ancients — by such orators as Bossuet, Flechier, Massillon,
and Bourdaloue in France. By these it was applied to
proclaim the praise of God, his angels and his saints, and
the illustrious dead. Besides, the French Academy and
other learned bodies require orations of this species from
their new members, and they have sometimes proposed
such compositions for honorable competition among the
learned of the land, awarding a rich prize to the successful
competitor. But demonstrative oratory, with its tropical
flowers, never took root in the colder soil of England.
There the saints and angels had been dethroned by the
Reformation from their exalted dignity, or, as Adams ex-
presses it, " The Protestant communities know too little of
those 'orders bright,' those supernatural intelligences, to
honor them with that panegyric to which, by their rank and
256 The Different Species of Oratory.
dignity in the scale of being, they may, perhaps, be enti-
tled." " The funeral oration," he remarks, " is the only
oratorical form in which they (the English) have been
accustomed to utter eulogy, and even that discourse has
rather been devoted to soothe private sorrow or to gratify
friendship than to testify public gratitude or admiration
. . . The British poets, indeed, have often spoken, with
exquisite pathos and beauty, the language of eulogy ; but
in the whole compass of English literature there is not one
effusion of eloquence which, like those of Isocrates, Cicero,
and Pliny in Greece and Rome, or those of Bossuet, Fid-
dlier, Massillon, and Thomas in France, immortalize at
once the speaker and his subject, and interweave in one
immortal texture the glories of achievement with those of
celebration." It is no wonder, then, that Blair has entirely
omitted to treat of demonstrative oratory, and has thus
degraded, as Adams expresses it, this noble species of
literature. Still, the germs of panegyrical eloquence are
sown by nature in the heart of man, and we are not sur-
prised to find in the speeches of Edmund Burke, Chatham,
and others many a bright flower of praise springing, as it
were, unbidden from the flooded spring of their rich ima-
ginations. Such are Burke's eulogy of Howard, of Lord
Bathurst, of Charles Townsend, of Sir George Saville, and,
above all, of the American people, which last Adams calls
" the fairest and most glowing tribute of panegyric that
was ever uttered in their honor " (Lect. x.)
381. But the more genial soil of the United States has
restored vigor to the germs which never took deep root in
England. "On the anniversary of our independence," says
Adams, " every city and almost every village of this Union
resounds with formal discourses, strictly belonging to the
demonstrative class of the ancients. There are many other
occasions, public and private, upon which we are accus-
Demonstrative Oratory. 257
tomed to assemble in churches and hear orations of the
demonstrative kind. Many of the performances at all
our public commencements are of the same description.
Funeral orations, as distinct from funeral sermons, are
very common amongst us ; and in general the public taste
for this species of public oratory is a distinguishing feature
in our character." Since Adams' time another variety of
such orations has grown into general favor and become an
important feature in our national habits. I refer to elegant
lectures given in public halls, to select or promiscuous
audiences, on all sorts of historical, philosophical, literary,
and scientific subjects. Scarcely a speaker has of late
years attained to distinction among us who has not appear-
ed upon this popular stage of eloquence ; and some dis-
tinguished writers of England have come to this country
to give courses of such entertainments to an appreciative
public.
Article II. Panegyrics.
382. While demonstrative oratory embraces all discourses
addressed to unconcerned hearers, it has most generally
been applied, by ancients and moderns alike, in prai§e_ of
deserving parties at the most solemn meetings of an admir-
ing people. Hence has arisen the name of panegyrics,
from the Greek term 7tavr)yvpi?} which designated an
assembly of the whole people for a solemn festival, as was
the gathering at the Olympic games. It is true that blame as
well as praise is always mentioned as proper matter for this
oratory, but we apprehend that it is so mentioned for the
philosophical reason that contrariorum eadem est ratio —
" contraries bear the same relations " — than for the sake of
much practical application. Blame is rarely capable of
rich development, nor is it in the spirit of Christian elo-
quence to dwell on blame for any but such necessary
258 The Different Species of Oratory.
practical purposes as at once transfer the speech to another
kind of oratory.
383. An obvious question here presents itself : What is
the practicarasefulnessjif_paa«gyri<3al orations ? We have
said before that they possess the same advantages as all the
other productions of the most elegant arts, of poetry, music,
painting, sculpture, etc.; but they have an immediate and
special usefulness of a very exalted nature. Besides the
honor which they enable us to pay to those to whom honor
is due, in itself a most worthy purpose, they contribute
powerfully to maintain in a nation a lofty standard of pub-
lic and private worth, and in particular of heroic virtue.
It was the maintenance of this high esteem for real merit,
more, perhaps, than anything else, that raised the Greeks
and Romans to the lofty eminence which they hold and
ever will hold among the nations ; and it was when that
standard was lowered that both countries began to decline.
f Heroism is unselfish ; it seeks the good of others rather
than its own, public rather than private advantages (Arist.,
Rhet., i. 9). .But to make the sacrifice of selfishness man
heeds encouragement of a lofty nature. The approbation,
the applause of their fellow-men has always been felt to
be among the most precious rewards which prompt exalted
spirits to deathless achievements. Panegyrical orations
eminently and directly provide this applause, and as such
are highly useful.
384. Meanwhile it is of the highest importance that the
standard or rule_bj__wWelr_EXalte3 virtue is estimated
should be of the purest kind, free from base alloy. " I
know of no function," said Mr. Windham in his speech on
Pitt's Funeral, " requiring to be discharged under a sense of
more solemn obligation than that which relates to the ad-
judication of national honors." And still in this same
speech he furnishes a striking specimen of a wrong stand-
Demonstrative Oratory. 259
ard, which appears the more debased when contrasted with
the lofty standard advocated by Demosthenes. It had been
moved in the House of the British Parliament (January 27,
1806) that the remains of the statesman, William Pitt, be in-
terred at the public charge, and a monument be erected to
his memory in Westminster Abbey. The motion was op-
posed, among others by Mr. Windham, who began his
speech as follows : " However painful I may feel the situa-
tion in which I stand, I feel that there is a duty imposed
upon me that I am bound to discharge. Nothing can be
more easy and satisfactory than to comply with that advice
which has been given to all parties, not to let tHeir political
hostilities be carried to the grave, and that on such an oc-
casion as this they should bury all animosities. For my
part, the only difficulty I should find in complying with
this advice is that I have no political animosities to bury.
Although I join sincerely in admiration of the great talents
of the Right Honorable gentleman who is now no more, yet
I think that those talents cannot be said to have been for-
tunate in the results ; and I must observe that, by the cus-
tom of this country, and, indeed, by the custom of every na-
tion at all times, these extraordinary honors are only con-
ferred where there is a certain union of merit and success."
Success, then, is claimed by this speaker as a necessary ele-
ment in life to deserve public gratitude. How different is
the standard by which Demosthenes, in his oration on the
Crown, bids the Athenians measure the merit of their
dead ! " It cannot be," he says — " no, my countrymen, it
cannot be true that you have acted wrong in encountering
danger bravely for the liberty and safety of all Greece ! No,
by those generous souls of ancient times who were exposed
at Marathon ; by those who stood arrayed at Plataea ;
by those who encountered the Persian fleet at Salamis ;
by those who fought at Artemisium ; by all those illus-
260 The Different Species of Oratory.
trious sons of Athens whose remains lie deposited in the
public monuments ! — all of whom received the same honor-
able interment from their country ; not those only who pre-
vailed, not those only who were victorious ; and with reason.
What was the part of gallant men they all performed ; their
success was such as the Supreme Arbiter of the world dis-
pensed to each." As a stream cannot flow higher than its
source, so public virtue will not be more lofty than that of
the models proposed for its admiration. Crown success,
and you cast disinterested virtue from its throne.
385. In order to collect arguments in praise of our hero
we are to consult the topics of persons, explained before
(numbers 119, 120). It is in order to consider here more
directly what are the (palities__of_ men which chiefly claim
the honors of panegyric. They are all those powers and
faculties which are not only productive of blessings for
their possessors, but which, moreover, contribute to the
I happiness of others ; the na\ov of the Greeks as distin-
j guished from the ayadov. The whole scope, then, of de-
monstrative oratory, as Aristotle expresses it {Rhet., i. 9),
is the uotXov — the honorable; and he devotes a whole chap-
ter to the consideration of what things are honorable.
Quintilian classifies these topics and bids us consider :
386. 1. What preceded the birth of the person praised :
the place of his birtrT, his- parents and ancestors. " It will
be honorable to them either to have equalled the nobility
of their forefathers or to have ennobled an humble origin
by their achievements." He adds such occurrences as de-
noted future eminence (b. iii. c. 1).
387. 2. The qualities of his mind, body, and external
circumstances. " All advantages which are external to us
are not subjects of praise to a man merely because he
possessed them, but only in case he employed them to good
purpose. For wealth and power and influence, as they
Demonstrative Oratory. 261
offer more opportunities for good or evil, afford the surest
test of our morals, since we are sure to be either better for
them or worse" (ib.)
Cicero applies the same remark to personal qualities,
such as birth, beauty, strength. " These,'' he says, " carry
with them no real praise, for praise is strictly due to virtue
alone " (De Or., ii. 84). Still, he directs the panegyrist to
treat of all such qualities, inasmuch as they have afforded
opportunities for the practice of virtues. He suggests, as
more important topics for laudation, wisdom, greatness of
soul — which considers all human affairs as mean and in-
considerable— eminent power of mind, and eloquence ; but
chiefly the virtues of clemency, justice, benignity, fidelity,
and fo.rtitude. Finally, he extols above all others such
brave achievements as men undertake with much toil and
danger to themselves, while no good results from such ac-
tions to the doers, but all the advantages are for their
fellow-men or for the commonwealth. Tc have borne
adversity with wisdom and fortitude he justly classes with
1 the more brilliant heroism of generous devotion.
388. 3. Whatever follows the person's death. Such are
ft\e tribute of resp£c_t_JhjJ^jptTSterTty pays to his memory,
the documents of his genius left behind. Children reflect
glory on their parents, cities and institutions on their
founders, arts on their inventors, sciences on their promo-
ters, etc.
389. There are three mode_s_af proceeding in arranging
the materials. 1. The biographical panegyric follows the
order of time ; it is easy~arid pleasing, provided dignity
be maintained and admiration increase as we proceed.
2. The ethical or moral species reduces the good quali-
ties of the persorTpraised to certain groups or leading vir-
tues. Isocrates and Pliny pursued the former, Cicero the
latter process.
w
262 The Different Species of Oratory.
3. Some French panegyrists combine the advantages of
both, by exhibiting distinguished virtues as displayed in
successive periods of a person's life. Such is the beautiful
funeral discourse pronounced by Flechier over the Duchess
of Montausier.
390. In the development the following rules should be
observed : -"
1. The praise bestowed must be truthful, really deserved.
e may, however, cover with the veil of silence what is no
fit matter of praise ; we may extenuate such faults as are
abundantly atoned for by transcendent merit — " a proceed-
ing," says Adams (Lect. x.), "perfectly consistent with the
pure morality of that religion which teaches that charity
covers a multitude of sins."
2. The encomium should be specific, not general : only
what is uncommonly honorable is worth exalting. The
selection of incidents is a crucial test of a speaker's tact
and genius.
3. While climax is required to keep up admiration, it
should be remembered that an attempt at exaggeration may
readily become a step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
4. Lofty moral sentiments must be inculcated, not in a
dry, didactic manner, but, as is usually done in epic and
dramatic poetry, by the exhibition of heroic virtue.
5. The style must be elegant, or even magnificent, worthy
of thefsubject, of the occasion, of the sentiments aroused.
To the specimens referred to in the course of these pre-
cepts we may add, with high commendation, several dis-
courses of Daniel Webster, in particular his two orations at
Bunker Hill, his speech on occasion of the extension of the
Capitol, and his eulogy of Washington.
391. We insert an extract from his Second Oration at
Bunker Hill : " The Bunker Hill Monument is finished.
Here it stands. Fortunate in the high natural eminence
Demonstrative Oratory. 263
on which it is placed, higher, infinitely higher, in its object
and purpose, it rises over the land and over the sea ; and,
visible at their homes to three hundred thousand of the
people of Massachusetts, it stands a memorial of the last
and a monitor to the present and to all succeeding genera-
tions. I have spoken of the loftiness of its purpose. If it
had been without any other design than the creation of a
work of art, the granite of which it is composed would have
slept in its native bed. It has a purpose, and that purpose
gives it its character. That purpose enrobes it with dignity
and moral grandeur. That well-known purpose it is which
causes us to look up to it with a feeling of awe. It is itself
the orator on this occasion. It is not from my lips, it could
not be from any human lips, that that strain of eloquence
is this day to flow most competent to move and excite the
vast multitudes around me. The powerful speaker stands
motionless before us. It is a plain shaft. It bears no in-
scription fronting to the rising sun, from which the future
antiquary shall wipe the dust. Nor does the rising sun
cause tones of music to issue from its summit. But at the
rising of the sun and at the setting of the sun, in the blaze
of noonday and amid the milder effulgence of lunar light,
it looks, it speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of
every American mind and the awakening of glowing en-
thusiasm in every American heart."
Articlk III. Academic Lectures.
392. Many lectures are of a panegyrical kind, whether
their subject be one of the arts and sciences, as music, as-
tronomy ; or some city or country, as Rome, Ireland ; or
some historical personage, as Jefferson, Columbus ; or some
association or institution, as the Jesuits, the Freemasons ;
or some moral virtue, as temperance ; or some remarkable
undertaking, as the Arctic explorations, etc., etc.
264 The Different Species of Oratory.
Other lectures, it may be on the same subjects, aim more
at communicating knowledge than at exciting admiration.
Of this class the ancients have not treated ; their method
of communicating knowledge was by conversation, as we
see in the dialogues of Plato, imitated by Cicero.
With us academic lectures form an important variety of
demonstrative eloquence. They may be defined as me-
thodical discourses professing to give instruction. We
have likened demonstrative orations to poetry ; panegyrics
correspond to epic, academic lectures to didactic poems.
393. These lectures may, according to their various kinds
of audiences, be assigned to three classes. They may be
addressed by a scientific or a literary man : 1. To his pupils,
as in universities ; 2. To his equals, as in scientific acade-
mies or societies ; 3. To the general public. To these dis-
tinctions will correspond very perceptible differences in the
manner and style of the compositions.
394. 1. From their professor pupils justly expect cor-
rect information, methodicaj. arrangement, and clear de-
velopment expressed in precise language. These qualities
are essential in such, lectures, but ornament of the more
modest kind is not excluded ; it may be used to great ad-
vantage to keep up attention and interest by adding beauty
to utility. Its amount will vary with the matter treated,
with the taste of the audience, and the genius of the
speaker. Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, J. Q. Adams' Boyl-
ston Lectures, Olmsted's Lectures on Natural Philosophy are
examples in point.
395. 2. When a lecturer addresses his equals he is ex-
pected to exhibit something excellent, worthy of the atten-
tion of the learned. This excellence may lie chiefly in the
matter, as when he can give a deeper insight into a difficult
subject. In this case he needs no higher qualities of style
than those expected from the professor. When the matter
Demonstrative Oratory. 265
is more ordinary he must have recourse to all the charms
of a highly-polished but still modest style and delivery, to
satisfy and please a critical audience. For then the atten-
tion of the hearers, not being chiefly occupied with the
matter treated, nor diverted by practical reflections on the
business in hand, as happens on other occasions, will be
fixed on the speaker and the manner of his performance.
396. 3. When the lecturer addresses the general public
it is necessary (a) that he choose a theme of general in-
terest ; (6) that he treat it in a popular form, with clearness
and elegance, and not without some feeling — not, indeed,
with such pathos as shall move the audience to action, but
such as will keep sympathy alive and thus insure attention.
Here, if anywhere, the speaker must observe the golden
rule which bids him miscere utile dulci — " to season the use-
ful with the pleasurable." Such lectures, being usually in-
tended as intellectual entertainments, must, like poetry, ob-
serve the rule of Horace :
" Mediocribus esse poetis
Non homines, non Di, non concessere columnae."
" For God and man and lettered post denies
That poets ever are of middling size."
— Francis.
Let no one, then, presume to offer such literary entertain-
ments unless he can produce something uncommonly good,
at least relatively to the audience. On occasions when un-
usual interest attaches to the matter treated the manner is
of less importance.
397. The style suited for the last two varieties of aca-
| demic lectures should be such as Cicero«-requires for all
I demonstrative oratory {Or., n, 13) : A graceful, easy, and
' flowing kind of style, with musical sentences and sonorous
words — a style better suited for show than for contest, ap-
266 The Different Species of Oratory.
propriate in gymnasiums and schools, but excluded from the
forum." "This is, as it were, the nurse of that style which
we wish to develop. By this a copious supply of words is
provided, and their construction and harmony move with
greater freedom. Eloquence trained with such care after-
wards acquires its own color and strength."
Article IV. Minor Compositions.
398. Of these we shall treat under the following heads :
1. Exhibition speeches should usually have the quali-
ties explaihecTTn connection with the third variety of lec-
tures. Their principal object is to impress the audience
with a favorable opinion of the scholars' proficiency. The
pleasure afforded the auditors is a secondary but still an im-
portant object. Hence the compositions should be adapt-
ed to the capacity and, as far as taste will permit, to the
predilections of the hearers. It is well to study variety
both in the subjects and in the forms of such discourses,
and to combine in the exhibition as many sources of in-
terest as possible. Still, the literary merit of the compo-
sitions and their proper delivery will ever form the chief
qualities of exhibition speeches. It is usually desirable to
find a link of unity — i.e., some leading thought which will
unite all the pieces of an entertainment. Trite subjects
should be avoided ; also such as the hearers happen to be
just then surfeited with. Classical and academic subjects
are often as new to the audience as they are suitable to the
scholars.
399. 2. Congratalfttor^-addresses, at installations, anni-
versaries, or presentations, etc., should above all express
regard and affection for the person addressed. They will
usually contain praise. Now, it is one of the most difficult
arts to praise delicately ; it requires the choicest thoughts
and the most tasteful expressions. Praise which is too
Demonstrative Oratory. 267
direct brings blushes to a modest face and is offensive.
Praise ambiguously expressed may suggest a doubt of its
sincerity. Great simplicity may appear unbecoming, and
extreme elegance may savor of affectation. It is in the
middle region between these extremes that we must look
for that delicate and original manner which imparts to such
compositions their greatest charm. A few more hints may
be added : (a) Avoid unmeaning expressions, commonplace
remarks, platitudes, which render insupportable what has
been a thousand times expressed the same way ; (6) To
add novelty, profit by any present or peculiar circumstance,
public or private, which may give an air of actuality to what
is naturally formal ; (c) Beware of alluding to anything that
may cause any one the slightest feeling of discomfort ; for
this purpose you must realize the situation of the person
addressed and of all concerned.
Cicero's Oration for Marcellus is a conspicuous model.
An address of Henry Clay to Lafayette {Am. Eloq., \\. p.
316) is less artistic, but direct and manly.
400. 3. Occasional speeches, at a social gathering, or in
answer to a__congratulation, etc., require that the speaker
understand well the expectation of the hearers, and do
not disappoint it ; hence (a) He should not speak on a
theme totally foreign to the occasion, nor treat his sub-
ject so as to cool enthusiasm ; (b) He should not exceed,
in length or in amount of earnestness, what the hearers are
prepared for at the time ; (c) The speaker may either con-
fine himself to remarks strictly pertinent to the occasion,
or, if a longer speech appears to be in order, he may direct
the thoughts and feelings of his audience into a wider
channel ; as, at a military banquet, he might eulogize a
soldier's career.
As a rule, brevity, wit, and brilliancy, or polite good
humor and strong common sense, are the qualities most
268 The Different Species of Oratory.
highly appreciated on such occasions ; if there be any
defect, let it be in favor of brevity.
The first and second volumes of Webster's Works
(Boston edition, 1872) contain a great variety of occa-
sional speeches, many of which are models in their kind.
CHAPTER IV.
SACRED ORATORY.
401. We are now to treat of the highest and most im-
portant species of eloquence. Sacred oratory promotes
the reign of peace, justice, and true wisdom upon earth as
much as is done by all the other branches of oratory to-
gether ; but besides it affects chiefly and primarily the eter-
nal happiness of every individual man. " Of all the works
of God," said St. Dionysius the Areopagite, "the most god-
like is the salvation of souls." For this purpose the Son
of God himself deigned to come down upon the earth ;
and he has left his Church to continue his work through
her ministers till the end of time. "As the Father has
sent me, I also send you" (John xx. 21), said our Blessed
Saviour to his apostles ; and he gave them and their suc-
cessors a special mission to use sacred eloquence as one of
their chief instruments when he said : " Go ye therefore
and teach all nations. . . . And behold, I am with you
all days, even to the consummation of the world " (Matt,
xxviii. 19, 20). No man can aspire to a more glorious
career than the sacred ministry. It is most honorable in
life : " How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good
things ! " (Rom. x. 15) ; and it is more exalted still be-
yond the grave : " For they that instruct many to justice
shall shine as stars for all eternity " (Dan. xii. 3). We
shall first consider the sources of success in this manner
of eloquence,
269
270 The Different Species of Oratory.
Article I. Sources of Success.
402. As the task of the sacred orator is so sublime and
important, he must be disposed for his duties by a special
preparation. This preparation is twofold, as it regards
both the Providence of God and the co-operation of man.
403. 1. It is the part of God's Providence (a) To pro-
vide in all generations a sufficient number of men with
the proper talents, opportunities, etc., to become fit in-
struments for the work of the sacred ministry ; (b) To
enlighten them with grace to understand the blessings
attached to this divine mission ; (c) Through those who
exercise authority in his Church, to select wisely among
them that offer themselves for the task ; and (d) To im-
part to them, when properly prepared, the special mission
without which no one should presume to enter on this holy
career. " How can they preach unless they be sent ? "
asks St. Paul (Rom. x. 15) ; and St. Francis of Sales
writes : " No one should preach who is not possessed of
three things — a good life, a good doctrine, and a lawful
mission " (On Preaching). This mission, together with
the supernatural grace to perform successfully the duties
of such office, is conferred on the aspirant through the
Sacrament of Holy Order.
404. 2. On the part of man, the candidate for this honor
must earnestly co-operate with the divine grace, striving to
acquire that learning and those virtues which will make
him a fit instrument of the Spirit of God for the sanctifi-
cation of those to be confided to his care. And, first of
all, he must select this career for no unworthy motives, but
only for those purposes for which it is designed by our
Blessed Redeemer — i.e., for the salvation and the sanctifi-
cation of souls, not for the sake of honor or other tem-
poral advantages. It is especially by this proper dispo-
Sacred Oratory. 271
sition of the heart that a divine vocation to the ministry
is known to exist. Whoever (a) is actuated by such vir-
tuous intention, and (6) is not prevented by want of health
or talent, nor by the necessity of his parents, from em-
bracing this holy profession, (<r) provided he be admitted
by those in authority, ought to conclude, says St. Liguori,
that he has a true vocation [Duties and Advantages of the
Religious State, p. 185). He truly enters by the right door
of which Christ spoke when he said : " He that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep ; to whom the
porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice ; . . . and the
sheep follow him, because they know his voice, etc."
(John x. 2-4). But those who choose this state of life
for temporal profit the Saviour calls hirelings, of whom
no good can be expected : " The hireling flieth, because
he is a hireling and has no care for the sheep " (ib. 13).
The candidate, once admitted, must apply himself to the
acquisition of those qualities which will enable him in
due time to exercise worthily his sublime duties ; in par-
ticular he must acquire virtuous habits and abundant know-
ledge.
% 1. A Virtuous Life.
405. His life should be adorned not only with the na-
tural or social virtues, which we have shown to be neces-
sary for every orator (b. i. c. ii.), but besides with those
higher virtues which, being of a supernatural kind, dispose
him to produce supernatural fruit. He will need in par-
ticular :
1. A lively faith; for in explaining the division of oratory
into its different species we have shown (p. 220) that sacred
oratory is distinguished from the other species by this
peculiarity : that it addresses hearers who view things in a
supernatural light — i.e., in the light of faith as distinguished
272 The Different Species of Oratory
from the dimmer light of natural reason. The more an
orator is thus divinely illumined the more he is capable of
enlightening others on their highest interests.
2. The spirit of prayer; for the effect, being superhuman,
needs a copious supply of the divine assistance ; now, this
is chiefly obtained by prayer.
3. Humility — i.e., the sacred minister must be sincerely
convinced that he is unworthy of so sublime a vocation,
and that he is powerless to produce the effects for which he
labors, except inasmuch as the Spirit of God shall use him
as an instrument : " When you shall have done all the
things that are commanded you, say : We are unprofitable
servants " (Luke xvii. 10). Humility will also enable the
preacher to seek God's glory and not his own in the labors
of his ministry.
4. Confidence in God, who is accustomed to effect most
important results with weak instruments when those whom
he chooses to employ, no matter how insignificant in other
respects, yield a faithful co-operation to divine grace.
5. An ardent zeal for the honor of God and the salva-
tion of men. This zeal will make the sacred orator exert
himself to the utmost of his power, and thus obtain abun-
dant blessings. For, as St. Ignatius explains, the more
liberal a man shall show himself towards God the more
liberal he shall find God towards him, and the more fit
shall he daily become to receive in greater abundance his
graces and spiritual gifts.
§ 2. Abundant Knowledge.
406. The knowledge possessed by the priest should, if
possible, be very extensive, as becomes his exalted charac-
ter. Besides the knowledge necessary for all orators (b. i.
c. iii.), he will need, for sacred eloquence, in particular:
1. Literary ability, that he may be able to set forth
Sacred Oratory. 273
heavenly doctrine in a style suited to its dignity. " We are
the ambassadors of Christ," says St. Paul (ii. Cor. v.) ; now,
the ambassadors of a king should strive to inspire respect
for their lord and for the mission entrusted to them. Be-
sides, the good effected in the hearts of men by the word
of God is so precious that no effort should be spared to
attract hearers ; now, beauty of language is a powerful at-
traction. Still, attention to ornament should never inter-
fere with clearness of instruction and power of persuasion.
Here the golden mean is of the highest importance, as St.
Augustine beautifully explains in his treatise on Christian
Doctrine, He condemns, indeed, all affected ornament by
which the preacher would seek his own glory rather than
the glory of God and the good of souls ; but he praises the
cultivation of an attractive style, and he adds : " I should
probably never have been converted if I had not been at-
tracted to his instructions by the eloquence of Ambrose."
The proper style for sacred oratory is judiciously discussed
by Rev. T. J. Potter in his Sacred Eloquence, pp. 323, etc.
See also Rollin's Belles-Lettres (vol. ii. c. iii. 3).
407. The following extract from Cardinal Newman's
Essays on University Subjects (Ess. ii.) conveys a clear idea
of that manly style which we conceive as especially becom-
ing the oratory of the pulpit. Newman applies it to all
manner of compositions :
" A great author is not one who merely has a copia ver-
borum, whether in prose or verse, and can, as it were, turn
on at his will any number of splendid phrases and swelling
sentences ; but he is one who has something to say and
knows how to say it. I do not claim for him, as such, any
great depth of thought, or breadth of view, or philosophy,
or sagacity, or knowledge of human nature, or experience
of human life, though these additional gifts he may have,
and the more he has of them the greater he is ; but I as-
274 The Different Species of Oratory.
cribe to him, as his characteristic gift, in a large sense the
faculty of expression. He is master of the twofold Xoyo?,
the thought and the word, distinct but inseparable from
each other. He may, if so be, elaborate his compositions,
or he may pour out his improvisations, but in either case
he has but one aim, and is conscientious and single-minded
in fulfilling it. That aim is to give forth what he has with-
in him; and from his very earnestness it comes to pass that,
whatever be the splendor of his diction or the harmony of
his periods, he has with him the charm of an incommunica-
ble simplicity. Whatever be his subject, high or low, he
treats it suitably and for its own sake. . . .
" He writes passionately, because he feels keenly ; for-
cibly, because he conceives vividly ; he sees too clearly
to be vague ; he is too serious to be otiose ; he can analyze
his subject, and therefore he is rich ; he embraces it as a
whole and in its parts, and therefore he is consistent ; he
has a firm hold of it, and therefore he is luminous. When
his imagination wells up it overflows in ornament ; when
his heart is touched it thrills along his verse. He always
has the right word for the right idea, and never a word too
much. If he is brief it is because few words suffice ; if
he is lavish of them, still each word has its mark, and aids,
not embarrasses, the vigorous march of his elocution."
408. The poet Cowper has correctly conceived the pro-
per style of sacred eloquence :
" I venerate the man whose heart is warm.
Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and wr»o«* life
Coincident, exhibit lucid proof
That he is honest in the sacred cause. . . .
I would express him simple, grave, sincere ;
In doctrine incorrupt, in language plain,
And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture ; much impressed
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge,
Sacred Oratory. 275
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds
May feel it, too ; affectionate in look,
And tender in address, as well becomes
A messenger of grace to guilty men."
" In my soul I loathe
All affectation. Tis my perfect scorn,
Object of my implacable disgust.
What ! will a man play tricks, will he indulge
A silly fond conceit of his fair form
And just proportion, fashionable mien
And pretty face, in presence of his God ?
Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes,
As with the diamond of his lily hand,
And play his brilliant parts before my eyes,
When I am hungry for the bread of life?
He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames
His noble office, and, instead of truth,
Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock !
Therefore avaunt all attitude, and stare,
And start theatric, practised at the glass !
I seek divine simplicity in him
Who handles things divine.''
— The Task.
409. 2. A sound knowledge of philosophy. Logic will
give him that correctness of thought which should charac-
terize all his teaching ; metaphysics will aid him in master-
ing the more profound questions of theology ; ethics will
enable him to apply abstract principles judiciously to the
circumstances of his hearers.
410. 3. A thorough knowledge of theology, Church his-
tory, and all those matters which directly belong to his of-
fice. Of these we shall speak more fully when treating of
the Topics of Sacred Oratory (Art. iii.)
On the subject of varied learning we may remark that,
while it is important, it is not essential for the sacred ora-
tor ; a saintly priest of moderate talents and of no great
276 The Different Species of Oratory.
learning may often accomplish wonders in the pulpit. St.
Francis de Sales quotes some examples of this success, and
he adds : " The preacher is learned enough when he does
not aim at appearing more learned than he is. If we can-
not speak well on the mystery of the Trinity, let us leave
it alone ; there is no want of more useful subjects " (On
Preaching).
Article II. The Subjects of Sacred Oratory.
411. As the end of sacred oratory is chiefly supernatu-
ral, the principal means employed must also be supernatu-
ral. Hence the subjects treated should, as a rule, belong to
the supernatural order — i.e., they should direct men to work
for the happiness of heaven. That happiness is not ob-
tained, nor are the means to attain it known, by natural rea-
son alone ; they are, therefore, called supernatural. They
have been made known to mankind by divine revelation, es-
pecially through the Son of God himself. These teachings
are proposed to us by the Catholic Church, and we are en-
abled by the light of faith to accept them in their fulness.
It is the task of sacred oratory to explain these teachings,
to apply them to the conduct of the hearers, and to urge
compliance with the obligations they impose.
412. Hence it is clear what subjects are appropriate in
the pulpit. The most proper are those most emphatically
taught by Christ through the Church. No idle discus-
sions, then, on abstruse speculations, much less uncer-
tain tenets or theories, belong to sacred eloquence. The
priest speaks as one having authority. " These things
speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority " (Tit. ii.
15). But he has authority to teach, as doctrine, only that
which the Church teaches concerning faith and morals.
He is not commissioned to teach in the pulpit systems of
philosophy and the physical sciences. With St. Paul let
Sacred Oratory. 277
him teach Christ and Him crucified, the Wisdom of God, the
Redeemer of man ; His commandments, especially love of
God and of the neighbor ; His beatitudes ; His sacraments ;
His examples, especially of meekness and humility ; the
hope of heaven and the fear of hell ; obedience to all law-
ful authority and fidelity to the faith ; the practice of all
virtues and the avoidance of all vices.
The sacred orator must prudently apply these and the
other doctrines to the special circumstances of his hearers ;
he must point out dangers to his flock, occasions of sins
and errors, refute false teachings, especially those prevalent
at the time. This task is usually most successfully accom-
plished by a full and clear exposition of true doctrine
rather than by direct controversy, which is rarely de-
sirable.
413. Philosophical subjects are not altogether excluded
from the pulpit ; but they should be treated in the light of
revelation as well as reason. They serve to strengthen in
the faith those who are brought into frequent contact with
unbelievers ; and where faith is dim or extinguished alto-
gether human reason may lead men back to God and to
his holy Church.
414. To make a judicious selection of appropriate sub-
jects the sacred orator will consider the special circum-
stances of —
1. His audience : their age, mental capacity, disposition
of heart, their special wants, their surroundings, etc., adapt-
ing himself mainly to the needs of the majority, without
neglecting to suggest some wholesome thoughts for the
consideration of the others. He can provide for all minds
by explaining a doctrine of the Church so lucidly that all
present cannot help understanding it. Let him ever beware
of talking over the heads of his audience with the view of
reaching the more educated few.
278 The Different Species of Oratory.
2. His own person. : his age, capacity, time allowed for
preparation, proper length of intended sermon, etc. Mi-
nute applications of doctrines to the morals of his audience
are less becoming in a young speaker ; nor can every orator
do justice to very difficult subjects. It would be unwise
for a priest to attempt a matter which requires much pre-
paration, at times when he is overburdened with other
necessary work. Lastly, there are subjects which can
scarcely be properly treated within the few minutes to
which prudence or charity often compels the orator to re-
strict his discourse.
3. The ecclesiastical seasons. It is very desirable that
the faithful be made to enter into the spirit of the principal
feasts and special seasons of the Christian year. These are
intended to keep the most important truths of religion be-
fore the minds of the faithful. To promote this same pur-
pose still further the Church assigns certain Gospels and
Epistles to be read on the various Sundays. These portions
of the Holy Scriptures are so selected that, if properly ex-
plained, they will remind the faithful of all the great truths
of religion at least once a year. From these a text is usu-
ally chosen to be developed in the Sunday sermon.
Still, there are often special reasons to depart from this
order of explanations for the greater good of the greater
number. Where the same priest addresses the same con-
gregation every week it may often be useful to follow for
a time a regular course of instructions ; e.g., on the Creed,
the Commandments, the Sacraments, etc. A clear and prac-
tical explanation of such matters is often as interesting to
the audience as it is instructive.
To be interesting is certainly important in all sacred dis-
courses ; but interest depends far less on the novelty of the
subject than on the lucid and sensible way in which it is
treated : Non nova, sed nove — " Not new things, but in a new
Sacred Oratory. 279
way " — is an old proverb most applicable in this matter.
When the sermon is not an explanation of the Epistle or
Gospel of the day it is better, to say so openly, assigning a
reason for this departure from ancient custom, than to at-
tempt a forced and unnatural union of subjects.
Article III. The Special Topics of Sacred Oratory.
415. After considering what subjects the sacred orator is
expected to treat we must next examine the sources from
which he draws his arguments. He treats undoubtedly
most noble and most important themes, and still he often
finds it more difficult to arouse a lively attention in his au-
dience than any other professional speaker. The indiffer-
ence of the hearers usually results from their familiarity
with all the arguments proposed. Now, a powerful help to
treat an old subject in a new way is a thorough study of the
genuine topics of sacred eloquence, an exploring for one's
self of the fountain-heads of Catholic thought. He who
takes an argument at second-hand will not treat it with half
the freshness of another speaker of equal talent who has
drawn the argument from an original source. The first
class of sources consists of the Intrinsic Topics. These are
not peculiar to any species of oratory : they are applica-
ble, and even indispensable, to all the species, and the sacred
orator should apply to his subject the precepts we have
laid down in our Second Book (chapter iii.) The Extrin-
sic Topics, on the contrary, are more or less peculiar in
each species ; we shall here briefly explain those of sacred
oratory.
§ 1. The Holy Scriptures.
416. The Holy Scriptures hold the first rank among the
treasures of sacred eloquence. They are the written vord
of God, and the priest is the ambassador of God ; they ire
280 The Different Species of Oratory.
therefore his credentials and his letters of instruction. In
them he will find not only the chief truths he is to pro-
claim, but also the most conclusive proofs, the clearest
illustrations, and the most impressive means of persuasion.
What an abundance and variety the sacred books contain
of facts, maxims, figures, and parables, and especially of
the very words spoken by the Redeemer ! All texts of Holy
Writ possess a peculiar unction which belongs to no other
writings. But it is better to explain clearly a few well-
chosen texts than rapidly to accumulate a large number of
them. For this purpose the priest must carefully study the
true meaning of each passage quoted.
417. The texts of Holy Writ may be taken in three dif-
ferent meanings — the literal, the mystical, and the ac comma-
dated.
1. The literal, or historical, meaning is that sense which
the words directly convey when read in connection with
the context and the traditional interpretation which has
been ever given of them in the Church. The Council of
Trent forbids any one to interpret the Scriptures in a sense
opposed to the unanimous teachings of the holy Fathers.
In matters of faith and morals we cannot expect to make
new discoveries.
2. The mystical, or spiritual, sense is the meaning con-
veyed, not directly by the words, but by the facts narrated.
Thus that the blood of a lamb saved the Israelites from
the sword of the destroying angel is the historical fact
related in the twelfth chapter of Exodus ; but that the
Lamb of God was by his blood to save all mankind from
sin and hell is the spiritual, or mystical, sense of the same
chapter. The lamb foreshadowed Christ ; that which fore-
shadows another is called the type, and the thing fore-
shadowed is the antitype.
3. The accommodated sense is a meaning which the texts
Sacred Oratory. 281
of Holy Scripture do not bear in the context, either directly
or indirectly, but which is assigned to them by the pious
ingenuity of men. This accommodation of texts rests on
the same principle that recommends the use of tropes in
literature. Thus what is said in the Scriptures of patient
Job may be applied to any good man who displays great
fortitude ; and as St. Paul was called by the Lord a vessel
of election to carry his name before the gentiles, this title may
well be applied to such an apostle as St. Francis Xavier.
Such applications of texts are extensively used by many
of the holy Fathers, in particular by St. Bernard, who al-
most speaks in Scripture language. St. Jerome deals more
in the literal sense, and is imitated by Bourdaloue ; while
Massillon rather imitates St. Augustine and St. Gregory in
the frequent use of the accommodated sense.
It is evident that the accommodated meaning has no
force in argumentation, except so far as it makes known the
teaching of the holy Fathers ; it has the weight of human,
not of divine, authority. It is not reverential to apply sa-
cred texts to entirely profane matters ; nor is it wise, even
on religious subjects, to accommodate a text to meanings
that have no relation to its obvious signification.
418. Rhetoricians point out various ways in which a
text can be properly developed. These are the principal :
1. Quote the interpretations that the holy Fathers have
given of the text. These are found collected and discussed
in the invaluable commentaries on the Holy Scriptures of
Cornelius a Lapide, Maldonat, etc.
2. Develop every word of the text.
3. Confirm the text by comparison with others of similar
import.
4. Explain it by contrast with other sayings of Holy
Writ.
5. Apply the topic of circumstances.
282 The Different Species of Oratory.
6. Examine the cause or reason of the assertion made.
7. Apply the words to various classes of men or things.
8. Adduce examples in confirmation of the truth pro-
posed.
§ 2. The Holy Fathers.
419. Divine Providence has bestowed upon the Church,
from the earliest ages of its existence, a number of men
remarkable alike for their learning and for their saintly
lives, who in copious writings, especially in commentaries
on the Holy Scriptures, have explained the faith for all
succeeding ages. Even when viewed with the eyes of rea-
son alone it is evident that their interpretations concerning
matters of faith and morals must possess great authority, as
they were men of very superior minds, who lived in lands
and times contiguous to those in which the apostles had
preached — men familiar with ancient manners and lan-
guages, and with the usages and the traditions of the
Church in early times. To this natural weight of their
testimony must be added the more important fact that the
Church of God has honored many of them as Doctors
especially enlightened by the divine Spirit to explain the
faith. Not that she considers any of them as infallible,
but their united testimony she receives as decisive in all
matters of faith and morals on which they profess to state
the doctrine of the apostles. Among the Fathers, St.
Jerome is the most illustrious interpreter of the literal
sense of Scripture, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and St.
Gregory of the mystic. St. Chrysostom's eloquent ora-
tions exhibit most happily the manner in which sacred
texts are to be developed and applied.
420. Quotations from such authorities are certainly most
suitable to impress upon the faithful the truth and the im-
portance of the doctrines explained in a discourse. But,
Sacred Oratory. 283
unfortunately, in these days of secular knowledge many
Christians are too ignorant of Church history to appreciate
such matters as they ought ; hence it is often necessary to
add to the quotations such explanations as will make those
revered names more fully known to the people. They
were giant minds, and their hearts were the abodes of the
Spirit of Wisdom. Rollin goes so far as to say {Belles-Let-
tres, vol. ii. p. 358) that a preacher is censurable for prefer-
ring his own poor thoughts to those of such great men,
who, by a special privilege, were destined to be the lights
of the world. Still, every preacher must adapt his argu-
ments to the minds of his own particular audience. Be-
sides, not every thought in the writings of the Fathers
would be pertinent at present, as many of their illustrations
are taken from the imperfect scientific notions of their
day ; they would be the first to discard such passages if
they lived at present.
The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore speaks thus
(n. 136): "We earnestly exhort (the priest) to study night
and day — diurna et nocturna manu verset — the venerable Fa-
thers of the Church, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Augustine, Leo,
Gregory, and Bernard, and especially the Holy Scriptures ;
for the nearer he shall approach the fountain the more pure
and fresh will be the waters which he can draw."
421. Some of the holy Fathers afford us not only argu-
ments but also the noblest models of sacred oratory. St.
Gregory Nazianzen is remarkable for the regularity and
the dignity of his orations ; St. John Chrysostom offers
the most perfect forms of discourses of every kind, from
the magnificent panegyric to the most familiar instruction.
Their orations are better models of composition for the
pulpit than the writings of the apostles themselves. For
although the latter contain, as do all the Holy Scriptures,
lofty and tender thoughts, brilliant and charming figures,
284 The Different Species of Oratory.
deepest pathos and most sublime conceptions, still the sa-
cred writers had no need to employ what St. Paul calls the
persuasive words of human wisdom (1 Cor. ii. 4), for they
had miracles to arrest the attention of the world "in
showing of the spirit of power " (ib.) Nee ipsos decet alia
(eloquentid), nee alios ipsa, says St. Augustine (JDe JDoct.
Christ., iv. 6) — " No other eloquence became them, and
theirs would become no one else." Let the speaker who
works miracles like them imitate their style of rhetoric, if he
can ; but ordinary human agents must have recourse to
human skill in their exertions for the good of souls.
§ 3. Theological Writings.
422. Theological writings comprise the decrees of Coun-
cils and of Supreme Pontiffs and the works of the il-
lustrious theologians. These are the fountain-heads from
which exact knowledge of religion ought to be drawn.
These, therefore, a priest ought to consult upon such mat-
ters of difficulty as he may have to explain. He may
read sermons to study the best way of developing his
thoughts ; but the thoughts themselves, the doctrines to be
proposed, and the chief arguments to be urged in support
of them he ought not to look for in sermon-books but in
theological treatises.
A definition pronounced by a general council or by the
Sovereign Pontiff speaking ex cathedra — i.e., teaching as the
head of the entire Church — puts the matter thus denned be-
yond all doubt or questioning. As for the unanimous
teaching of theologians on any matter, it would be, to say
the least, highly rash to impugn it. Such points as are dis-
puted by theologians are not to be treated in ordinary ser-
mons. The Catechism of the Council of Trent contains an
authentic collection of all the doctrines usually to be ex-
plained to the people and of the proofs chiefly to be urged
Sacred Oratory. 285
in their support. This work is most highly recommended
by the Sovereign Pontiffs Clement XIII., Pius VI., and Pius
IX., and by the Fathers of the Second Plenary Council of
Baltimore (n. 133).
§ 4. The History of the Church and Ascetic Writings.
423. By the History of the Church we mean not only the
public events connected with the conversion and the sancti-
fication of the nations, the dangers, the sufferings, and the
successes of the ecclesiastical rulers, but also the more
hidden virtues of the great servants of God, especially of
those proposed for public veneration. The lives of the
saints exhibit all the Christian doctrine in examples ; and
examples are more powerful than words. We have men-
tioned before that all popular orators use the topic of ex-
ample copiously and most effectively ; there are special rea-
sons why the sacred orator should do the same. He has in
the saints of the Church a host of far more brilliant models
of every virtue than a profane speaker can find among the
heroes of the world. But we shall speak of this matter
more fully when treating of the sacred panegyric.
424. By ascetical works we mean such writings as teach
the faithful how to sanctify their lives by the practice of
constant virtue, so as to approach more and more nearly to
a state of Christian perfection. Some of the most distin-
guished theologians have written on this matter, in particular
St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, Bellarmin, Lessius,
and St. Alphonsus of Liguori. Among those authors who
have confined themselves to asceticism Thomas a Kempis
holds the first place ; Rodriguez, De Ponte, Segneri and
Pinamonti, Croiset, Judde, and St. Jure are conspicuous ;
Father Faber, of the London Oratory, is highly esteemed.
The sacred orator who would neglect to study ascetic
works and the lives of the saints would be apt to omit in his
286 The Different Species of Oratory.
discourses an important portion of Christian teaching and
to disappoint the more devout portion of his flock. This
defect would be considerable, as souls striving after perfec-
tion are far dearer to God and render him far more glory
than a much larger number of ordinary Christians.
Of the lives of the saints the Oratorian series and the
collection of Rev. F. X. Weninger, S.J., are replete with
unction and edification ; but many prefer the learned vol-
umes of Alban Butler, as being written in a more critical
style and better adapted to the taste of the British and
American public.
425. St. Francis of Sales ranks the study of nature and
of the natural sciences among the topics from which the
sacred orator should draw copious illustrations. Both the
Scriptures and the Fathers have given the example of this
practice. Go to the ant, you sluggard, says Holy Writ
(Prov. vi. 6), and it reminds us that the heavens proclaim
the glory of God (Ps. xviii. 1), and that the invisible things
of God are clearly seen by the things that are made (Rom. i.
20). But when the priest deals with science it should be
certain science, no uncertain theories. Illustrations taken
from nature are far preferable to those taken from profane
literature ; the latter are rarely noble enough to be used in
connection with sacred subjects. Of pagan fables St. Fran-
cis of Sales remarks that they are scarcely ever appropriate
in the pulpit, " for the idol Dagon is not to be placed
with the ark of the covenant " {On Preaching).
426. To enable him to draw freely on all these sources
the orator should accustom himself to take notes of any
useful facts, sayings, or thoughts that he may meet with in
his reading or in his own meditations. This practice is in
common use among the learned. St. Francis Xavier says :
" Be assured that what we commit to paper is imprinted
more deeply upon the mind : the very trouble of writing
Sacred Oratory. 287
it and the time spent in doing so engrave the matter on the
memory. Even those thoughts which move us considerably
will leave no lasting fruit behind them, unless we note them
down while our impressions are still fresh." To this prac-
tice Cardinal Wiseman owed that wonderful facility with
which he could lecture learnedly on almost any subject at
short notice. Various methods of thus collecting notes are
in use ; one of the most practical is to have always at hand
a blank-book the pages of which are marked alphabetically,
so that any item may at once be entered on the proper
page. Brief notes, not long extracts, are recommended
{Sacr. Eloq., ib.)
427. When thoughts have been collected they must be
arranged and developed according to the rules laid down in
our Third and Fourth Books. Whatever in these matters is
peculiar to sacred oratory we shall treat in the remaining three
articles, in which we shall consider three classes of sacred
discourses : 1. Didactic j 2. Exhortatory ; and 3. Festive.
Article IV. Didactic Speeches.
428. Religion ought to be taught in such a manner that
Veritas pateat, Veritas placeat, Veritas moveat — " that truth
shall be made luminous, pleasing, and persuasive." Now
one and then another of these three qualities is chiefly
desired. Didactic speeches aim directly at making the
truth luminous. Since to teach religion is emphatically the
mission of the sacred orator — Go teach all nations — didactic
speeches are the most important portion of his eloquence.
If these be well managed the other kinds may, strictly
speaking, be dispensed with. A pastor who teaches his
flock excellently leaves little or nothing to be desired ;
while one who moves and pleases, but neglects to impart
proper instruction, fails in one of his chief duties. Docere
necessitatis est—" To teach is a matter of necessity "—says St,
288 The Different Species of Oratory.
Augustine (De Doctr. Christ., iv. 12) ; and we may add that
it is as fruitful as it is imperative. Bossuet is said to have
worked more conversions by his Exposition of Christian
Doctrine than by all his other writings and his grand ora-
tions. In this country, in particular, explanations of re-
ligion are productive of the richest fruits ; for a thorough
knowledge of its dogmas and of the grounds of faith is
indispensable for those who live in a non-Catholic com-
munity, and at the same time the acquisition of it is beset
with more difficulty, where so many are educated in secular
schools. Even those who are learned in other respects are
often very ignorant in religious matters. But the people
here are of an inquiring mind and willing to be instructed.
Didactic oratory may assume various forms and pass
under various names, such as lectures, conferences, dogmatic
sermons, familiar instructions, catechisms, etc. Let that
form and that name be preferred which appear, under the
circumstances, the best suited to do good to souls. All the
various forms may be reduced to two classes : dogmatic dis-
courses and familiar instructions.
§ 1. Fa?niliar Instructions.
429. We begin with familiar instructions, as being more
indispensable and of more frequent use. In these the
sacred orator has the highest models before him. For of
this kind were the teachings of our Blessed Saviour him-
self, such were the instructions of the apostles and of
apostolic men of all ages. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St.
Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Augustine not only were devoted
to this practice, but they have also written special works
on this subject. Familiar instructions constituted the prin-
cipal mode of evangelizing with such missionaries as St.
Vincent Ferrer, St. Dominic, St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis
Regis, and St. Liguori.
Sacred Oratory. 289
430. The most necessary instructions are those called
catechetical. This word comes from the Greek narot vxoff,
by sound, and properly means oral instructions ; but the
term is now usually applied to instructions by questions and
answers. They are of four principal kinds : those for little
children, those in preparation for the first Holy Commu-
nion, the catechisms of perseverance, and catechetical in-
structions for adults.
The subject is too extensive for full development in this
work ; these directions may be briefly given :
1. The catechist of children should gain the esteem, the
confidence, and the affection of every child. For this pur-
pose a firm tone and manner are found most expedient
when addressing boys collectively, mild and gentle ways
when singly ; with girls the opposite course is more ad-
visable.
2. He should excite emulation by all proper means.
3. He should talk little : the less said the more learned,
provided every word be clear and exact.
4. Every catechist should adapt himself to the capacity
of his hearers, taking up, even with adults, only one idea
at a time, and making that as clear as possible to every one
present ; using familiar but not vulgar words ; introducing
well-chosen illustrations after the example of our Divine
Saviour himself.
5. When one idea has been well explained he should
elicit answers by appropriate questions, easy but never
trifling. With adults, however, this practice may be omit-
ted, as care should be taken not to cause them any public
confusion.
6. He should show the practical bearing of every truth
explained, often adding cases of conscience suited to the
intelligence of his hearers, and teaching them how to lead
fervent Christian lives.
290 The Different Species of Oratory.
7. He should add such proofs of doctrine as can readily
be understood and appreciated ; he will thus indirectly
refute the errors of the day, and arm his hearers against
the objections of heretics and infidels.
8. He will show forth the beauty of religion and the ex-
ceeding goodness of God ; but he must also inspire the fear
of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
9. He will frequently exhibit models of virtue in the lives
of the saints, and strive to inspire all with a lively devotion
towards the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Some popular specimens of catechetical instructions are
found in Furniss' Tracts, in St. Liguori's Commandments
and Sacraments, and in Perry's Instructions. See also St.
Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana j Rev. F. Hamon's Treat-
ise on Catechism j Potter's Pastor and People (c. vi.), etc.
431. II. More connected instructions require a somewhat
different mode of treatment. Like all regular discourses, they
should have unity of subject. The matter treated, being
thus limited, admits of more thorough development. These
instructions may be connected into a regular course with very
great advantage to the hearers. " There is no art or science,"
says Fenelon, " that is not taught in consecutive order and
methodically ; and it is only religion that, by abuse, is taught
otherwise." Copious exposition is the manner of develop-
ment best suited for such explanations ; we must, therefore,
refer the student of oratory to the precepts given on that
subject in the fourth chapter of our Fourth Book.
432. As regards the order to be observed in these dis-
courses, the precepts of our Third Book will be a great
help. We shall here give one example of their application.
Suppose an instruction is to be prepared on one of the vir-
tues or vices. It may contain : 1. A correct definition of
the subject, followed by a clear explanation ; hence may be
derived the marks by which it is known.
Sacred Oratory. 291
2. Motives for embracing the virtue or avoiding the vice,
drawn from the consideration of its nature, its causes, its
effects, and the other intrinsic sources — authorities and ex-
amples taken from the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers, the
lives of the saints, etc.
3. Means to acquire the virtue or to avoid the vice ; par-
ticular applications to present circumstances, etc.
Human motives may be usefully proposed ; but the main
thoughts of the instruction should be Christian. Each vir-
tue may be contrasted with its opposite vice ; but faults
against purity should be treated of but briefly and very
discreetly ; the chastisements inflicted on such sins may be
proclaimed with earnestness. The discourse of Bourdaloue
on this vice, and that of Massillon on the Prodigal, are com-
mendable models.
§ 2. Dogmatic Lectures.
433. Dogmatic lectures differ from familiar instructions
— 1. In their general tone, which is more elevated, more dig-
nified.
2. In their style, which is more elaborate, more oratori-
cal.
3. In the matter treated, which is more confined to the
doctrine itself, and contains less application to the hearers.
4. In the manner of development, which is more philo-
sophical, more argumentative.
434. To dogmatic lectures apply the precepts which we
have laid down in our Fourth Book (c. iv. §§ 2, 3) On
Reasoning and Refutation. Such discourses usually begin
with a solemn enunciation of doctrine, which is next ex-
plained m a clear and impressive manner, exhibiting not
only its true meaning, but also its importance, its beauty,
its advantages. Then they proceed to prove or establish
the truth of the doctrine. Starting from undoubted prin-
292 The Different Species of Oratory.
ciples, the reasoning should be logical and cogent. It
should not be proposed in the dry manner of scholastic
disputation, but in a popular way, with appropriate illustra-
tions. Refutation may often be necessary. But, as objec-
tions can be strikingly proposed in a few words, while an-
swers to them may require patient reasoning, great care
should be taken lest the objections make a stronger im-
pression on the hearers than the refutations.
The Points of Controversy of Father Smarius, S.J., re-
ferred to above, contain some models of considerable merit.
Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures o?i the Doctrines of the Church
are learned and elaborate.
435. Controversial lectures are such as attack error di-
rectly. They may sometimes be useful, or even necessary ;
but there is one objection against them which is not incon-
siderable— viz., that they may hurt the feelings of those in
error, and thus provoke rather than allay opposition. If
used, they require careful attention to the oratorical precau-
tions explained above (b. iv. c. iv. art. ii. § 3). Dogmatic
lectures do not give offence, and can be so managed as to
attain almost all the advantages of controversy.
436. In this age of spreading infidelity it is more than
ever necessary to make the faithful familiar not only with
the doctrines but also with the solid proofs of their reli-
gion, that they may repel the sophistical objections urged
against the faith. It has become necessary to defend the
very first principles of revelation. But, whatever the errors
of the day may be, the one central truth must ever be held
before the eyes of all that there is a living voice on earth
ever teaching the nations, that the Church is divine and im-
perishable, and that she speaks through the lips of her in-
fallible pontiff. If an audience appears too destitute of
faith to profit by direct dogmatic teaching, there are effec-
tive examples in Fathers Lacordaire, Ravignan, and Felix
Sacred Oratory. 293
to show how a zealous priest can adapt himself to difficult
circumstances. For instance, Father Felix, addressing his
worldly-minded audience, treats successively of — 1. The ne-
cessity of moral progress, as regards science, art, society ;
2. The impediments of progress — cupidity, avarice, etc.;
3. The sources of progress — sanctity, humility, etc. From
all this he argues the divine perfection of the Chris-
tian religion : Crescamus in Wo per omnia qui est caput,
Christus — " That we may in all things grow in him who is
the head, Christ " (Eph. iv. 15). Thus some application
to practice, some pathetic appeal to the heart, or at least
some gentle persuasion should accompany the teaching of
dogmatic truth.
Article V. Exhortatory Discourses.
437. Exhortatory discourses aim directly at moving the
will of the hearers. But before the will can be efficacious-
ly moved the mind must be convinced. Thus combining
conviction with persuasion, and using the arts of pleasing
as means to obtain the main object, exhortatory discourses
afford ample room for all the resources of eloquence.
They may assume the form of the set moral sermon or
of the homily.
§ 1. The Set Moral Sermon.
438. While almost every precept laid down for oratory in
general is applicable to the set moral sermon, we shall
briefly notice a few points of special importance :
1. A marked unity should prevail in the discourse. The
reason is that the point urged in such speeches is supposed
to be important, and men are so constituted that they will
not take any important resolution unless all their attention
be concentrated on one point. Still, the one point urged
should not be so limited as to apply to a portion only
294 The Different Species of Oratory.
of the audience. On the contrary, to every class of the
hearers some way should be suggested in which it applies
to themselves. The right idea of unity in moral sermons
is thus expressed by Cardinal Newman : " Summing up,
then, what I have been saying, I observe that, if I have
understood the doctrine of St. Charles, St. Francis, and
other saints aright, definiteness of object is in various ways
the one virtue of the preacher ; and this means that he
should set out with the intention of conveying to others
some spiritual benefit ; that with a view to this, and as the
only ordinary way to it, he should select some distinct fact
or scene, some passage in history, some truth, simple or
profound, some doctrine, some principle, or some senti-
ment, and should study it well and thoroughly, and first
make it his own, or should have already dwelt on it and
mastered it, so as to be able to use it for the occasion, from
an habitual understanding of it ; and that then he should
employ himself, as the one business of his discourse, to
bring home to others and to leave deep within them what
he has, before he began to speak to them, brought home to
himself. What he feels himself, and feels deeply, he has to
make others feel deeply ; and in proportion as he compre-
hends this he will rise above the temptation of introducing
collateral matter, and will have no taste, no heart for going
aside after flowers of oratory, fine figures, tuneful periods,
which are worth nothing unless they come to him spon-
taneously and are spoken ' out of the abundance of the
heart.' "
439. 2. Let no attempt be made to move the will before
conviction is secured. Still, on many occasions conviction
may well be presumed in the faithful, especially in those
who are well instructed and whose minds are not darkened
by the false maxims of the world. But in most cases it
will be found useful to lay down some solid proofs of the
Sacred Oratory. 295
doctrine before applying it to practical conclusions. For
conviction must ever be the guide of conduct, and in pro-
ducing conviction natural reason is intended by Divine
Providence to be the handmaid of revelation. Rationabile
obsequium vestrum — " Your reasonable service " — is de-
manded (Rom. xii. 1).
440. Some rhetoricians call this combination of dogma
with exhortation a mixed kind of oratory ; it matters little
by what name it is called, but it is certainly a most useful
kind, especially in this rationalistic age.
To give an example. Suppose the discourse is on eter-
nal punishment. The text may be : " Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for
the devil and his angels" (Matt. xxv. 41). A purely
dogmatic sermon might prove : 1. That there is a hell ;
2. That it is eternal. A purely exhortatory sermon might
— 1. Inculcate a holy fear of God's justice, without any
explicit reasoning ; 2. Exhort to avoid sin. The follow-
ing plan would combine the advantages of both kinds :
1. There is an eternal hell, solidly proved ; 2. It awaits
all those who refuse obedience to God — applying this to
various classes of sinners.
441. Mission sermons need not be separately treated of :
they are moral or exhortatory discourses on the most im-
portant practical doctrines of the holy faith. The Italian
missionaries Segneri and Sinescalchi are remarkable for
their powerful orations in this species of sacred eloquence.
Still, in imitating them it must be remembered that they
addressed a people very different in many respects from
the English-speaking public, and that every speaker must
adapt his treatment of his subject to his own sp'ecial
audience.
442. Of exhortatory speeches generally, besides the ser-
mons of the holy Fathers referred to before, we have in the
296 The Different Species of Oratory.
Church a considerable number of illustrious models. The
principal are the great preachers of the golden age of lite-
rature in France. Massillon, Bourdaloue, Brydaine, though
they preached frequently before corrupt courts accustomed
to flattery, ever bore aloft the pure standard of Christian
dogma and morality, and urged the practice of virtue with
all the liberty that becomes the minister of God and all the
ability that could be expected of such representative men.
§ 2. The Homily.
443. The term Homily is derived from the Greek Ofxikla,
familiar intercourse, and was used by the holy Fathers
to designate their familiar instructions. As these speeches
were usually, though not always, commentaries on the Holy
Scriptures, the word homily came to be used to denote ex-
planations of Holy Writ ; this is its ordinary meaning at
present. When chiefly didactic it should be classed with
familiar instructions ; but it is often moral or exhortatory,
owing to the copious practical applications to which it
readily lends itself.
The homily has the great advantage of directly present-
ing the word of God ; it is, therefore, full of divine unction.
It may be simple, oratorical, or mixed.
444. I. The simple homily lays down no one proposi-
tion, aims not at unity of purpose ; but it explains familiarly
some verses of Holy Scripture, adding illustrations and
practical applications to the hearers. It contains three
parts — an exordium, an explanation, and a conclusion.
The exordium arouses attention by commending the impor-
tance of the doctrine, the applicability of the passage to
present circumstances, its connection with what precedes,
etc. The explanation develops the meaning of the words,
removes misunderstandings, suggests practical applications.
These last should be obvious, not far-fetched or unnatural.
Sacred Oratory. 297
Some speakers are fond of introducing long digressions ;
but this practice is as injurious to the peculiar unction of
the homily as it is offensive to literary taste, which requires
some kind of unity in all compositions. The conclusion is
an earnest exhortation to some practical resolution. (See
Pastor and People, p. 141, etc.)
The holy Fathers were accustomed to explain whole
books of the Scriptures in connected homilies ; the prac-
tice appears to have many advantages, and is recommended
by the Council of Trent ; it exists in Italy. In most other
countries the simple homily is usually applied to the Epis-
tles and Gospels of the Sundays and feast-days, as is done
by Goffine ; it is a convenient practice for hard-worked
priests who can devote little time to preparation. F6nelon,
in his Dialogues on Eloquence, advocates it ; but St. Francis
of Sales finds great fault with its want of unity.
445. II. The oratorical homily is not subject to this de-
fect, and it strives to combine in one speech all the advan-
tages of the simple homily with those of the set moral ser-
mon or dogmatic lecture. In fact, it is nothing else than a
regular oration which draws all its leading arguments from
one short passage of the Holy Scriptures, and directs them
all to establish one great truth or inculcate one practical
lesson. No manner of sacred oratory is more powerful or
more impressive than this. It requires a certain grasp of
intellect and some earnest meditation to compose it, but it
demands no extraordinary talents, and still it produces most
beneficial results. Would it were more frequently em-
ployed !
Those passages of the Bible are best suited for this pur-
pose which fully develop one chief idea ; many such occur.
1. In the discourses of Christ and in the Epistles of the
Apostles : e.g., the sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel (v. 26
-71), on the Holy Eucharist; the twenty-fifth of St. Mat-
298 The Different Species of Oratory.
thew (v. 31-46), on the Last Judgment ; the sixth of St.
Matthew (v. 19-34), against solicitude for earthly posses-
sions ; the fifteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the
Colossians, on the Resurrection, etc.
2. Many narrations of facts ; e.g., Dives and Lazarus, the
Marriage Feast of Cana, the Deluge, Jonas at Ninive, the
Cure of the Paralytic by Saints Peter and John, any mira-
cle of the Saviour, etc.
SS. Parables, as of the Prodigal, the Good Samaritan, the
Good Shepherd, the Nuptial Garment, the Wise and the
Foolish Virgins, etc.
4. Facts used as allegories. Thus St. Augustine exhibits
the restoration of a soul to grace in the raising of the
youth of Nairn to life and health. Massillon's homily on
the raising of Lazarus is a masterpiece of this kind (see it
analyzed in Pastor and People, p. 149, etc.)
446. III. The mixed homily consists of two parts. In
the first a clear and interesting exposition is given of the
Gospel or Epistle of the day ; the second part makes the
moral applications. This method is usually followed by
St. John Chrysostom. It is more regular than the simple
homily, and, if forcibly applied to inculcate one moral
point, it may be made very impressive. The parables of
our Divine Saviour usually inculcate one great lesson, and
may easily be treated in this regular form. The first part,
for instance, might describe the wanderings and the re-
turn of the Prodigal, exhibiting the exceeding mercy of the
father; while the second part would display the charity of
our heavenly Father towards repenting sinners {Pastor and
People, p. 144).
An example is found in Canon Oakeley's lectures en-
titled The Priest on the Missions. In his appendix he
shows how the parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins
may be thus very impressively developed (pp. 229 to 234).
Sacred Oratory. 299
Article VI. Festive Orations.
447. The work of glorifying God and of teaching and
sanctifying the nations is performed by the Church in no
slight measure through her solemn festivals. These speak
a language of their >own well suited to raise the heart of
man from the vain pursuits of earth to the praise of God
and the desire of heaven. On days when the churches
are decorated to the best advantage, when the altars are
adorned with choicest flowers and numerous burning ta-
pers, when the sacred ministers wear the most precious
vestments, and when music and incense raise every heart to
heaven, it is certainly unbecoming that the sermon should
be made up of common thoughts expressed in homely
phrases. Festive oratory is necessary on festive occasions,
and no speech can be too beautiful for solemn feasts. Not
vanity but duty requires that the priest shall exert him-
self to the utmost to make his hearers enter into the
spirit of the Church. Such has ever been the practice of
the saints — of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Ambrose, St.
Augustine, St. Leo, St. Bernard, etc. Omnia tempus habent
— " All things have their season " — says Ecclesiastes (iii.
1), and this is emphatically the case with the festivals of
religion.
Festive orations, provided their style be adapted to the
intelligence of the hearers, are usually full of instruction
and exhortation to every one present. They may expound
the meaning of the mystery celebrated, or extol the wisdom
or the goodness of God revealed in the dogma ; they may
exalt the Lord in the servants whom he wishes to honor,
and thus propose lofty models for imitation. Hence it
may be said with truth that demonstrative orations are even
more appropriate in sacred than in profane eloquence.
Festive orations may be of three classes : discourses on the
300 The Different Species of Oratory.
mysteries, panegyrics of saints, and speeches on various occa-
sions.
§ i. Discourses on the Mysteries of Religion.
448. The mysteries of religion most solemnly honored
by the Church are those which have immediate reference
to the Redemption. Such are the solemnities of the Birth
of Christ, of his Manifestation to the Gentiles, of his sacred
Death, his glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven,
of the Descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, and of the
Holy Eucharist. Such also are the wonders of grace ac-
complished in his Blessed Mother, her Immaculate Concep-
tion, the Annunciation of the Angel, her Nativity, and her
Assumption.
These festivals afford the sacred orator excellent oppor-
tunities to proclaim the principal truths of religion in a
manner at once most honorable to God and most use-
ful to the hearers. He may treat them in various ways :
449. 1. Dogmatically, thus answering all the purposes of
the dogmatic lecture, and that under circumstances pecu-
liarly favorable to render the truth clear, interesting, and
impressive.
2. Morally, exhorting the faithful to enter into the spirit
of the solemnity for the glory of God and their own sancti-
fication.
But, whether treated dogmatically or morally, festive ora-
tions should exhibit a lofty conception of the mystery, set
forth with appropriate beauty of style.
450. Bourdaloue, in his sermon on the Resurrection of our
Lord, combines all these sources of success in a masterly
manner. Taking for his text the words of the angel, He is
risen, he is not here ; behold the place where they laid him, he
contrasts these with the inscriptions on other tombs, Here
lies, and displays in his introduction the glory of the sepul-
Sacred Oratory. 301
chre of Christ. He next lays down his dogmatic proposition :
" The Resurrection of Christ is — (a) The foundation of our
faith, as it is the principal proof of his divinity ; (&) The
foundation of our hope, being the pledge of our resurrec-
tion." Then follows a triple moral application : (a) To the
incredulous, who refuse to believe ; (o) To sinners, who
believe, but live as if they did not believe ; (c) To good
Christians, who look forward to their own resurrection.
451. Cardinal Wiseman's volume of Sermons on our
Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary contains some noble
specimens of festive oratory. He concludes his oration on
the triumph of the Cross as follows :
" O blessed Jesus ! may the image of these sacred
wounds, as expressed by the Cross, never depart from my
thoughts. As it is a badge and privilege of the exalted
office to which, most unworthy, I have been raised, to wear
ever upon my breast the figure of that Cross, and in it, as
in a holy shrine, a fragment of that blessed tree whereon
thou didst hang on Golgotha, so much more let the lively
image of thee crucified dwell within my bosom, and be the
source from which shall proceed every thought and word
and action of my ministry ! Let me preach thee, and thee
crucified, not the plausible doctrines of worldly virtue and
human philosophy. In prayer and meditation let me ever
have before me thy likeness, as thou stretchest forth thine
arms to invite us to seek mercy and to draw us into thine
embrace. Let my Thabor be on Calvary ; there it is best
for me to dwell. There thou hast prepared three taber-
nacles: one for such as, like Magdalen, have offended
much, but love to weep at thy blessed feet ; one for those
who, like John, have wavered in steadfastness for a mo-
ment, but long again to rest their head upon thy bosom ;
and one whereinto only she may enter whose love burns
without a reproach, whose heart, always one with thine,
302 The Different Species of Oratory.
finds its home in the centre of thine, fibre intertwined with
fibre, till both are melted into one, in that furnace of sym-
pathetic love. With these favorites of the Cross let me
ever, blessed Saviour, remain in meditation and prayer and
loving affection for thy holy Rood. I will venerate its very
substance, whenever presented to me, with deep and solemn
reverence. I will honor its image, wherever offered to me,
with lowly and respectful homage. But still more I will
hallow and love its spirit and inward form, impressed on
the heart and shown forth in the holiness of life. And,
O divine Redeemer ! from thy Cross, thy true mercy- seat,
look down in compassion upon this thy people. Pour
forth thence abundantly the streams of blessing which flow
from thy sacred wounds. Accomplish within them, during
this week of forgiveness, the work which holy men have so
well begun, that all may worthily partake of thy Paschal
Feast. Plant thy Cross in every heart ; may every one em-
brace it in life, may it embrace him in death ; and may it
be a beacon of salvation to his departing soul, a crown of
glory to his immortal spirit ! Amen."
§ 2. Panegyrics.
452. Panegyrics rank among the most magnificent spe-
cimens of oratory. These are even more appropriate in
sacred than in profane eloquence, as the praise of sanc-
tity is more exalted than that of civil virtue, and hero-
ism is nowhere so conspicuous as in the saints. Besides,
the saints are not only models but also intercessors with
God.
We have treated the composition of panegyrics in con-
siderable detail under the head of Demonstrative Oratory.
A few points are peculiar to the pulpit. The sacred orator
must give his chief attention to the praise of Christian vir-
tues, exhibiting his hero as habitually inspired by motives
Sacred Oratory. 303
of supernatural faith, hope, and charity, as referring all to
God and loving his neighbor for the sake of God. Gifts
of grace are to be referred to as evidences of the favor of
Heaven. Miracles must certainly not be omitted, for, as
the angel said to Tobias (ii. 7), it is honorable to reveal and
confess the works of God. Besides, nothing is so striking to
man as the supernatural manifestations of divine power in
behalf of the Church and her saints. But great care should
be taken to designate nothing as miraculous which is not
proved to be so ; and the Second Council of Baltimore
(139) very justly observes that learned men smile and non-
Catholics are offended at the narration of pious stories
which are not well authenticated, and it adds that Gospel
truth does not need the support of idle legends.
453. For models of religious panegyrics we may refer to
the eloquent oration of St. John Chrysostom on St. Igna-
tius, and to his less lofty but not less charming encomium
of Saints Maximin and Juventin.
I. He divides the crown of St. Ignatius into the wreath
of his episcopacy and the wreath of his martyrdom.
1. Taking apart the wreath of his episcopacy, he finds in
it : (a) The dignity of the office itself ; (o) The character
of those who consecrated him ; (c) The uncommon forti-
tude needed by a bishop in his time ; (d) The importance
of the city of Antioch confided to him ; (e) The dignity of
St. Peter's former chair.
2. He unfolds the wreath of his martyrdom in a reasoned
narrative of his imprisonment, his travels to Rome, his
sufferings there ; and he describes in brilliant colors the
triumphant return of his remains to Antioch.
In the peroration he summons various classes of suppli-
cants to receive favors at the saint's tomb.
454. II. The panegyric of Saints Maximin and Juventin
follows the historical order.
304 The Different Species of Oratory.
Introduction . Various and ever beautiful are the saints
of God, the rich treasures of the Church.
Exposition of Julian the Apostate's persecution.
Narration — 1. The confession of the two soldiers : (a)
Their zealous language ; (6) Their arrest ; (c) Their life in
prison ; (d) Snares laid to entrap them.
2. Their martyrdom : (a) Their glorious death ; (b) Col-
lection of relics.
Peroration extols the saints and invites to confidence in
their intercession.
§ 3. Speeches on Special Occasions.
455. The sacred orator may often be called upon to dis-
course on special occasions which require special thoughts
and peculiar treatment. Some of these occasions are en-
tirely sacred, such as a ceremony of ordination, of religious
profession, a first Mass, a first Communion, the consecration
of a church, etc. Others are partly profane, such as the
inauguration of a dignitary, the opening of a school, the
blessing of a military standard or of a public building, the
celebration of solemn obsequies, etc.
On all occasions two great objects must be kept in view :
1. To understand the expectation of the hearers, so as not
to disappoint them ; and 2. To raise their thoughts to a
level suitable to the dignity of the speaker's priestly cha-
racter.
456. 1. In order to realize the expectation of the au-
dience he should avoid introducing subjects or arguments
alien to the occasion, or treat the matter in a way which
may damp their enthusiasm. On the contrary, he must
sympathize with those present and make himself the inter-
preter of their sentiments. These sentiments he will direct
into a proper channel, then widen and deepen it as much
as his genius and his discretion will allow. For instance,
Sacred Oratory. 305
at the blessing of a military standard he may exalt the love
of country as a virtue sanctioned by religion, and then
make a soldier's devotion to his flag appear in all its he-
roism. He will illustrate it by examples of Christian war-
riors, thus arousing military and religious enthusiasm.
457. 2. To elevate the subject: (a) When the occasion
is entirely sacred, the holy thoughts which it inspires are
to be developed and displayed in all their richness ; (i) If
partly profane, some great principle is to be introduced
which will bring the theme within the province of religious
eloquence. In either case it will generally be most appro-
priate to explain the ceremony or the occasion, and thus
derive the thoughts from the very nature of the subject, its
effects, circumstances, etc. Father McCarthy's discourse
on religious vows, and Father T. N. Burke's at the opening
of the month of May, are examples in point.
458. Discourses at solemn obsequies are more frequent
than any other occasional speeches. They are specifically
called Funeral Orations when they praise the dead for the
edification of the living. Not every speech at a funeral
attempts this task, nor should it do so. The Second Coun-
cil of Baltimore (143), while approving the practice of
preaching at funerals, cautions the priest against the be-
stowal of unmerited praise, and it suggests that on many
occasions it may be most appropriate to preach on the duty
of praying for the departed or on the wholesome remem-
brance of death.
In this matter of funeral orations the great pulpit orators
of France stand unrivalled. Bossuet, above all, appears to
have reached an ideal excellence before which criticism is
lost in admiration.
459. One great difficulty in this kind of speeches is that
the matter of praise is in great part profane, and often
blended with objectionable items or with such as may give
306 The Different Species of Oratory.
offence. The management of such matters requires a
delicate tact. Every point treated must be, as it were,
purified and sanctified, and that without any misrepresenta-
tion or exaggerated praise. No pain must be caused to
sorrowing friends ; silence and charity may cover many a
fault, or a moral wound may be uncovered to show how it
has been healed. (See n. 400.) Thus Flechier beautifully
exhibits the momentary defection of Turenne as eclipsed
by the remainder of his career, and Bossuet the longer
defection of Cond£ as atoned for by his repentance. At
the funeral of Henrietta Anne of England, Duchess of
Orleans, Bossuet diverts attention from her example, which
was not edifying, to the lesson which her death teaches the
world. We shall finish these precepts with a quotation
from that eloquent oration. It begins thus : " I was, then,
still destined to render this funeral duty to the most high
and most puissant princess, Henrietta Anne of England,
Duchess of Orleans. She, whom I had seen so attentive
while I rendered the same duty to the queen, her mother,
was to be so soon after the subject of a similar discourse,
and my sad voice was reserved for this sorrowful ministry.
O vanity ! O nothingness ! O mortals ignorant of their
destiny ! Would she have believed it six months since ?
And you, sirs, would you have thought, while she shed so
many tears in this place, that she was so soon to reassemble
you here to weep over herself ? Princess, worthy object of
the admiration of two great kingdoms, was it not enough
that England mourned your absence without being yet
reduced to mourn your death ? And France, who saw you
again with so much joy, environed with a new renown —
had she now no other pomps, no other triumphs for you,
on your return from that famous voyage whence you had
brought back so much glory and hopes so fair ? ' Vanity
of vanities, and all is vanity ! ' It is the only word which
Sacred Oratory. 307
remains to me ; it is the only reflection which, in so strange
an occurrence, a grief so just and so sensible permits me to
use. Neither have I searched the sacred volumes to find
in them a text which I could apply to this princess. I have
taken, without study and without choice, the first words
which Ecclesiastes presents to me, in which, although
vanity has been so often named, it still appears to me not
sufficiently so for the design which I propose to myself. I
wish, in a single misfortune, to deplore all the calamities of
the human race ; and, in a single death, to show the death
and the nothingness of all human grandeur. This text,
which suits all the conditions and all the events of our life,
by a particular reason becomes suitable to my unhappy
subject ; for never have the vanities of the earth been so
clearly exposed nor so loftily confounded. No ; after what
we have just seen, health is but a name, life is but a dream,
glory is but a phantom, accomplishments and pleasures are
but dangerous amusements : all is vain in us except the
sincere avowal which we make of our vanities before God,
and the settled judgment which makes us despise our-
selves.''
THE END.
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